Deeply

I think the movie was really good. It was a good romance movie. It had a sad ending but I think that makes a better ending than a fariy tale ending. It may not have been one of Kirsten Dunst"s is best movie, but not every movie can be the best. I liked the movie whether or not is was her best movie. I think if you like a little romance it would be a good movie for you.

I just saw this movie as part of the Atlantic Film Festival and it truely blew me away. The wonderful story cast a spell on me that I could not evade even after the movie. This beautifully filmed movie makes me wish that Hollywood would really go on strike next year. Maybe then movies like this would find their way to more screens.

A young girl comes with her mother to her ancestral home on an island off the coast of Nova Scotia to escape the sudden death of her first love. She withdraws from the world around her until she crosses paths with an old hermit-like lady who tells her a tale of a great fishing village, an age-old viking curse and a lovelorn couple that faces Shakespearian tragedies. Parallels between her life and the tale open up her heart so she can mourn her love.Beautifully filmed this bittersweet lovestory is a bit of a tearjerker and ends a bit sourly. Good direction and heartfelt acting are abundant but the story is a bit of a downer. 8/10

A true story tale, woven as the tales of two curses are gradually untwined. In one story a modern girl lands on a Nova Scotia fishing island, bitter and grieving. Lynn Redgrave gives a lovely performance playing a crusty older lady telling this girl the other tale, about a girl her same age 50 years earlier on the same island. Two unknown actresses give deeply felt though not perfect performances as the two teenage girls.

The film is sometimes slow, sometimes awkward, and sometimes cliched, but the telling of the tales overrides the imperfections, and my husband and I were drawn into the telling, the gorgeous scenes of the island, and the mystery of the tales. We saw this on Dutch TV, which we get by satellite, and which shows many wonderful independent films that don't make the mainstream, but are so much better than the ordinary fare.

Fiona (Alberta Watson) returns home to isolated Ironbound Island after her mother left her the family home. She brought her depressed daughter Claire (Julia Brendler) who suffered a devastating loss. They are greeted by Fiona's uncle Peat. Claire is pushed to deliver a package to bitter writer Celia (Lynn Redgrave). Celia tells Claire a story about the island's past when fish was plenty. Silly (Kirsten Dunst) was born on the fish cutting table. Her mother Rose was a mainlander and everybody is keeping the island lore from her. They suspect Silly to be the special one. On her death bed, Rose makes Silly promise her not to go into the water. Then one day, the fish disappears.

It's a story within a story. The modern story has Lynn Redgrave anchoring it. She brings her professionalism and powerful acting. The story within the story has Kirsten Dunst doing some good work. The story has a poetic sadness. The production is a little too indie. It doesn't have the magic that the story requires. Writer/director Sheri Elwood doesn't have the compelling visual style and the movie does struggle with pacing. It's a fair movie about sadness and loss.