La figlia oscura

When this film ended, I was left wondering what it was exactly that I just watched and felt like I was trying to find a deeper meaning within the film that I'm not even sure is really even there. Throughout the entire film, I was waiting for something to happen that would tie certain scenes together to make the story line more cohesive and make more sense and provide some sense of closure in regard to the plot and the actions of the main character. But at the end of the film, there I was... still waiting. There were scenes that were completely irrelevant to the story (for example, the scene with the hikers). I kept waiting for that scene to become relevant later in the film, but it never did. It was just "filler," I guess. As far as the acting goes, it was fine, as was the directing. I think the main failure of this film is the plot in general. Basically, it tries to build up a lot of intrigue (and does a decent job at that) but then in the end, you're still left struggling to find meaning and relevance and make connections that don't exist. And because of that, the film comes off as a bit pretentious due to its failed attempt to explore the main character's complex psychological state but even in that, it barely skims the surface.

British literature professor Leda Caruso (Olivia Colman) went to Greece on a summer holiday. While she was on the beach, she finds herself obsessively observing an attractive young woman Nina (Dakota Johnson) with her headstrong little daughter Elena (Athena Martin). This made her recall her younger self in her 20s (Jesse Buckley) raising her own two daughters Bianca and Martha (Robyn Elwell and Ellie Blake).

Colman's 48-year old Leda looked like a mild-mannered academic at first glance. However, this film slowly revealed that she carries heavy psychological baggage within her over the years. These painful issues mainly revolved around her tumultuous relationship with her daughters when they were little girls, triggered back to life by seeing the seductive Nina and her Elena. More disturbing details would further unravel as Elena's doll went missing.

It was fascinating to watch Colman and Buckley's consistent portrayals of Leda at two ages in her life. Colman's Leda displayed some testy behavior that did not seem to fit the usual profile of a respectable woman of her age and stature. It was only upon meeting Buckley's young Leda through flashbacks can we understand Colman's Leda's breakdown upon meeting Nina, seeing how they shared the same dilemmas when it came with their daughters and men.

True to her provocative name from Greek myth, Leda was a woman of passion. While Buckley's young Leda had a husband Joe (Jack Farthing), she was also drawn to the intellectual genius and masculine confidence of fellow professor Hardy (Peter Skarsgaard). On her vacation, Colman's middle-aged Leda can still attract her share of male admirers, like elderly villa manager Lyle (Ed Harris) and young working student Will (Paul Mescal).

This female-centric film had an all-female creative team behind it, with Maggie Gyllenhaal on her debut as feature film director and screenplay writer, adapting the novel of Italian writer Elena Ferrante. Gyllenhaal approached the drama with palpable suspense, with gorgeous images were captured by Helene Louvart. Colman, Buckley and Johnson all turn in excellent internally-complex performances of their flawed characters.

1. The narrative is unfocused. Two unrelated storylines are told in parallel, and the narrative is very scattered. Some characters (e.g. The local gang) are totally unnecessary.

2. Cinematography is annoying. Just too many closeups.

3. The screenplay is very pretentious. Its title and plot is misleading. Any audience would expect something to happen, yet nothing happens eventually. The title should be "The lost doll".

During her vacation Leda witnessed an incident that that remembered her of her darkest moments as a mother .

It was a bit slow for me, not a lot of things happening, but it worth your time of course.

It shows how the motherhood can be one of the most beautiful and hard experiences at the same time in a woman's life.

The film's structure is remarkable especially the way they presented the present and the previous time back and forth .

What made me watch this movie while I'm late I guess is what I heard about performances, the beautiful Olivia Colman was fascinating, for Jessi Buckley I had a problem with the character itself and it's instability, but her acting was at it's finest.

Two Oscar worthy nomination for these two, playing the role of the same character in different periods of time.

Some good performances from Dakota Johnson and Ed Harris that I always appreciate his presence.

Finally, I want to say that Maggie Gyllenhaal offered us a beautiful pure drama so her Oscar nomination is deserved I suppose.

" I'm an Unnatural mother".

Elana Ferrante, the anonymous Sicilian author of "The Lost Daughter, has dedicated her entire career to the honest depiction of the complexities of what it means to be a woman. In this regard, Maggie Gyllenhall was wildly successful in her adaption of "The Lost Daughter", delivering a marvel of a screenplay that is able to tap the essence of Ferrante's work by offering an unflinching glimpse into the idealism of motherhood and then tearing it to shreds. The writing of Ferrante, infamously dense, is not easy source material to adapt into a cinematic format, instead of typical plot-driven fiction, she opts for a more heady and internally based story structure, which is why it's such a feat that Gyllenhall is able to make her script even remotely entertaining.

However, the script alone isn't what makes this movie good. It has a significant assist by three actresses: Olivia Colman in the titular role, Jessie Buckley as her younger half, and Dakota Johnson as a new mother of intrigue. Olivia Colman has clearly reached the new golden era of her career with stunning back-to-back performances: The Favorite, Flea Bag, The Crown, The Father, and now once again we find ourselves lauding her much deserved praise. Colman turns a mother, with plenty not to like, into a character that you just can't tear your eyes away from. Colman so deftly manages the swirl of emotions and outbursts of anger her character was prone to without ever showing her cards. Jessie Buckley, as her younger half, arguably gives the only warm performance in the entire film, a sharp decision in contrast to Colman's cold exterior. The merging of their singular character is helped by the incredible editing of Affonso Goncalves. Not only doing wonders for their character but the story as a whole by shuffling the order of events. Side Note: The audience is able to feel Colman's suffocation around children so thoroughly, not only because of her acting but because of the intimately claustrophobic cinematography and the unbearably well-designed sound mixing (which never lets you forget when there's a crying child in the background).

For all Gyllenhall does right here, there are a few missteps that make it hard to truly love this film. First, due to the very subtle nature of the script and the "beneath the surface" aspects of the performances, you can feel a bit emotionally isolated from all of the characters. I found myself constantly questioning if you actually cared about what's happening to any of them when it's obvious we should have. Second, the ending doesn't quite work, with Dakota Johnson invoking her mafia husband, as this was a barely established plot point that wasn't nearly developed enough to use as a cornerstone in one of the final developments in the story.

The Lost Daughter is an uncomfortable raw character study and vicious critique of what society expects from motherhood that's missing just a few key elements to seamlessly blend its story, message, and audience connectivity together.