La tutora

I have not read the novel - which I can only assume must be controversial! Probably and likely even more so than the movie itself. Handling issues of sexual nature, especially when kids are involved are .. well delicate as already mentioned. Especially when you have nudity in the movie too.

Now the shot was according to the filmmaker as comfortable as possible and all the things that some might interpret come from outside. Again just saying what the director is saying. I totally understand if someone does not feel comfortable enough watching this. Way better than being comfortable - but that is a discussion for a different time and is not meant to be a general judgement.

Back to this though, which has so many themes that involve coming of age and obedience, sexual awakenes and abuse (mentally and physically). Really well played by the actors, although maybe a bit too long for its own good. Since I haven't read the book, I can't say if this stirs away from it. Especially the ending may come as a suprise to many I imagine ... it is quite far out. Which depending how much you liked the movie up to that point will be a good or bad thing ...

Henry James' wonderful 'Turn of the Screw' story provides, surely, the ideal scenario for an Ivan Noel film. There's stiff opposition: several exceptional versions already exist plus Benjamin Britten's unique chamber opera.

The story is deliberately ambiguous - do the 'ghosts' exist?; are the children under the control of other-worldly spirits?; is the governess imagining things which lead her to false conclusions?

The key differences in this adaptation are: 1) setting the story in the age of the computer (not, I think, a great idea when you see how little the governess uses it to connect to the outside world and the uncle in particular; 2) the children are feral rather than the product of an upper class upbringing; 3) the denouement makes use of IN's trademark unexpected twist.

As in his previous work, the director makes wonderful use of music (sadly, in this film, not his own) including the haunting 'malo - I am bad' theme from Britten's score. Other 'fingerprints' include beautiful shots of nature (landscapes/skies/insects, etc), memorable framing shots (Angel seen distantly through a door portal, sitting outside against a stone ball - famous painting?? and behind a net curtain, use of water as a theme with dark connotations, plus strikingly beautiful close-ups of faces.

The portrayal of Angel and Ema by Valentino Vinco and Malena Alonso, is superb throughout They are always believable, reacting to each other in a totally realistic way given their background. I especially enjoyed the laughing fit which inevitably concludes their first 'formal' meal. The housekeeper, naive but all-knowing, is superbly played. I was put off almost immediately by the uncle who, unfortunately, has an annoying 'click' to his speech and is lacking in visual expression Christina Maresca, 'La Tutora' herself (Mona she certainly is!) acts well (a regular in IN's films). We steadily lose empathy with her - I suspect this is deliberate. As a teacher she would not pass her probationary year! You cannot begin by declaring to your children, "I'll be your teacher and your friend": it just doesn't work. She then tries her utmost (unsuccessfully, thank God) to impose her own middle class moral judgements on the children, failing spectacularly to understand where they are coming from. The film challenges her judgements. Statements such a "You will obey/respect me," "They should not sleep in the same bedroom," "It's improper that you bathe outside wearing nothing" are never reasoned and when she comes out with "It's not natural to be naked" (what could be more so?) my anger was such that all sympathy was lost! I think, and hope, that IN is challenging us to consider these issues from an unbiased standpoint (as opposed to media-driven pressures) in much the same way as Nicholas Roeg does in 'Walkabout' (1970).

Maybe not the best of his films but certainly a worthy release, deserving acclaim. One final question. The (alternative) title: surely 'Grazed Knees' rather than 'Burnt Knees'?

This half-baked Henry James adaptation from the recent suicide Ivan Noel is basically what you'd expect. The way the movie is photographed completely overwhelms any pretense of story. Noel was a photographer, and his favourite subject were underaged boys, preferably naked. "La tutora" is only an outlier in that it features a naked girl as well.

The plot is an afterthought, but who watches a Noel movie for plot anyway?

The fact that the movie is apparently set in the modern day only makes the inclusion of a 19th century storyline seem even more pointless.

Homophobia, mental illness, sexual precociousness, vigilantism, child sex abuse, betrayal, paranormal phenomena, and revenge: all of this swirls together in Ivan Noel's philosophical horror film The Tutor. The end result, disturbing to most of us on multiple levels, is both highly entertaining and thought-provoking.

Mona is hired, she thinks, to educate Angel and Ema, 11-year-old orphaned brother and sister whom she soon discovers live well beyond "free range." Whether some events are real or paranormal or hallucinatory is unclear at times. And that, it turns out, is as intended. What is actually going on is indicated by several hints quite early, but as sometimes happens, the most definitive clue was too subtly presented (for me) and I only learned about it in the "Making Of" special feature on the Alive DVD. But in the end, it all makes sense.

How intense is this film? After watching it, and especially the ending, I was glad to have the "Making Of" available, to remind myself that the actors are not the characters. Running with that idea also allows me to tell myself that rather than a proffered path forward, The Tutor instead represents Ivan Noel's primal scream of pain, dedicated to all victims of moral extremism.

Where "extremism" begins is a debate that will long endure. Meanwhile, here is an interesting movie, well worth watching.

Artsy trash only good for fashionable viewers. The entertainement value of this wearisome flick is below zero. Extremely slow dialogues and character development, no question ever gets a clear answer, muddy storyline, smug display of child nudity as a cheap appeal to the main audience who would otherwise desert this pretentious rubbish.

If you care nothing about photography, music scores and intellectual gobbledygook, and are just looking for an intelligent, involving horror story, do yourself a favor and stay away from this pretentious nonsense.