Seven Veils

There is an enthralling and haunting Hawthorne story where a father, a prominent avant garde physician, is fiercely protective of his daughter. As a child he gradually introduces her to a deadly poisonous plant. By the time she matures anyone who gets too close to her will suffer and die. The poison of the plant is infused in her life blood. The woman is beautiful, and terrible. "Don't you love," he asks "that no one can bring you down?" Her reply cuts to the bone. "Father, I would have preferred to love someone."

Jeanine is a theater director trying, like the woman in the Hawthorne story, to break free from the shadow of heartless people. Suffering abuse from her father, mentor, husband, and now an arrogant actor, - abuse that they call "love" - Jeanine attempts to heal and go beyond them without losing what is essential and good about herself. She struggles to break free from the traps set for her. To find something different.

"Take away one sense and others are heightened."

I love Egoyan films for their depth, surprising twists, and explorations of intriguing themes (passion, wrongful judgments, abuse, attempts to find a way forward after wrongs are done, love, perspectives different from my own, and more). In following a woman adrift after abuse, Seven Veils continues in the typical Egoyan veins. It is set in the Canadian Opera Company building a few blocks away from where I watched the film's world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. While Egoyan spent too much time inside the theater for my taste, I understand why it was done. Egoyan directed the opera company's real life production of Salome and molded much of it into Seven Veils. Even some of the actors in the actual opera are also in the film.

Jeanine is skillfully brought to life by Amanda Seyfried. Off topic - why did Seyfried have surgery? Not that she looks bad now, but she looks so much better in Egoyan's previous film, Chloe. (long sigh)

As I think about Seven Veils I like it more. Moving beyond the trauma of abuse is a fascinating subject. Someone who said they loved me hurt me very much. It is a struggle sometimes to see that I am worthy of love. In Jeanine's battles I see my own.

The most impressive single thing about this Atom Egoyan film must be the setting, which draws heavily from the recent, real-life Canadian Opera Company production of Richard Strauss's opera 'Salome'. Even a few of the genuine singers are used in supportive roles. The plotline that is embedded within that atmosphere is, however, a fairly conventional one: the young stage director (Amanda Seyfried) must face two big ghosts from her past who are (a) her father and (b) her mentor, himself a legendary director. We;ve seen variations on that many times before. Other things getting in her way -- which would be enough of a challenge by themselves -- are the personal issues and problems of the lead singers and management who want to skew the production their own way. It's well enough done, and it's certainlyl visually impressive. I didn't think however that this role suited Seyfried too well; I though she should convey a more commanding, certain presence, because her character was supposed to be an experienced director already. (Comparison for contrast: Cate Blanchett, the imperious orchestra conductor in Tar (2022)). But there it is -- Egoyan has a strong personal style, and you get what you get.

Bit of an arts buffet this, perhaps too much so.

Atom Egoyan takes the Biblical tale of Salome and John The Baptist, turned an Oscar Wilde play, turned a Richard Strauss opera, turned an Atom Egoyan staging of said opera, into a fictionalized staging of said opera in film form. Whew.

Amanda Seyfried, she of the crazy wide eyes, seems miscast as the dictatorial director. She looks young enough to play her daughter in some unsettling childhood flashbacks. A thing she does not do. Opera is not a young man's game, neither a young woman's, and though Seyfried handles this challenging role superbly, accepting her in the ruthless role is a stretch.

As usual, Egoyan weaves a tangled web of interleaved plotlines, some juicy, some not so much. Power dynamics, sex clashes, hidden histories, career manipulations, bubble up in the troubled staging of Salome. Lots of backstage drama, and plenty of on stage as well. Egoyan cranks out an excellent class in opera directing, and Seyfried shines in fighting to bring her unorthodox version to fruition. The opera looks great, especially the beautiful shadow sequences, and perhaps the stage should have been the focus rather than all the happenings behind the scenes.

Almost everything comes together in the end, but there are too many unresolved plot lines left for an audience to ponder over. A fine attempt, but when all is sung and done, it ends about as well as it did for John The Baptist.

• hipCRANK.

It's an opera-based (Salomé) drama set in Toronto in 2023. Jeanine (Elizabeth Reeve/Amanda Seyfried) is usually a play director who has agreed to remount "Salomé" at the request of her deceased mentor's wife, Beatrice (Lanette Ware). Jeanine has just separated from her husband, Paul (Mark O'Brien), who has remained at home with their daughter Lizzie (Maya Misaljevic), and Jeanine's widowed mother, Margot (Lynne Griffin), who has dementia. Margot's caregiver, Dimitra (Maia Jae Bastidas), also plays a role.

"Seven Veils" portrays Jeanine's efforts to mount the opera against her personal history reflected in the earlier 1996 "Salomé" directed by her mentor, Charles, that utilized her difficult family experiences shown in home movie-style flashbacks. Jeanine juggles Internet connections with her family and her efforts to shape the "Salomé" production in personal ways. Her direction involves complex relationships with the leads of John the Baptist (Michael Kupfer-Radecky) and Salomé (Ambur Braid), their understudies (Douglas Smith and Vinessa Antoine), and the props manager, Clea (Rebecca Liddiard). Sometimes, Jeanine's decisions mystify others, and other tensions within the company increase the drama. The film ends with opening night.

One reviewer calls Atom Egoyan a visual director. That fits "Seven Veils," as the images overwhelm a complex story a mile wide and a couple of inches deep. Jeanine's character is the only one with depth; a little more focus would have helped the story's coherence. Egoyan's concept is clever, but the execution falls short. "Seven Veils" is an interesting watch, but it's not certain what we've learned in the end.

In dark-drama "Seven Veils" Amanda Seyfried (as strong as ever) directs a remounting of the opera 'Salome' that her now deceased mentor & lover originally directed. In rhythm with the production (involving the likes of Rebecca Liddiard (good), Lanette Ware, Vanessa Antoine, and actual opera stars Ambur Braid & Michael Kupfer-Radecky) Seyfried evokes emotions from her own childhood trauma and current troubled marriage. Experienced writer / director Atom Egoyan clearly immersed himself in Richard Strauss' opera (and Oscar Wilde's play it was based on) which fans of may really enjoy - but for others this may be too 'artsy' to entertain.