Seven Veils

Salome loves John the Baptist, who denies her. So she asks her father for John's head, that she can kiss him on the lips one time.

It's an age old story and a good one, and I saw the play which was sublimely acted, although it's contemporary presentation took something away from it in my opinion. The opera also is brilliant, but modernised, something which I feel took something away from it.

This version, filmed for cinema, is exceptional in showcasing the writing and directing talent of the writers and the director of the film, but is not really about Salome. It's about people, and their passion and intrigue and deceit. Diminutive Seyfried is a powerhouse in the part, but quite simply she is visually not matched to the role. Her acting skills are renowned, and indeed her singing, but this part in the arts demands a different character, like Gwendoline Christie, or Cate Blanchett. That's not a criticism of Seyfried, she is the sole reason I watched this film: it's a criticism of casting for exposure, instead of for the part.

I struggled my way through this film in several sessions because frankly, it bored me, and the many prisms of human nature were lost a little in the heavy and sometimes conceptual dialogue.

I would never say I enjoyed this film: I enjoyed Seyfried playing a magnificent part, but I also enjoyed her in Mamma Mia: she does not need a film like this to shine. I believe no-one needs a film like this, It may suit a trainee theatre actor rather than a cinema audience, but this is art rather than cinema. For that reason I only give this a score of 6, and 99% of that score is for Seyfried's acting.

Author/poet/playwright Oscar Wilde is widely renowned for his observation that "Life imitates art" (or, more precisely, as the full quote maintains, that "Life imitates art far more often than art imitates life"). But is that statement indeed true? In many ways, it seems that both propositions are just about equally valid these days. And that's a pervasive theme - from both perspectives - that runs through the latest feature from writer-director Atom Egoyan. The film tells the story of a theatrical director (Amanda Seyfried) who takes on the challenge of mounting a new production of the Richard Strauss opera Salome (a work ironically based on an Oscar Wilde play of the same name), a revival based on a previous version staged by her former mentor and now-deceased unrequited love. The opera, in turn, serves up a musical interpretation of the Biblical tale of prophet John the Baptist (Michael Kupfer-Radecky) and Judean Princess Salome (Ambur Braid), perhaps best known for her erotically charged "Dance of the Seven Veils" and who asks her stepfather, King Herod (Michael Schade), to present her with the holy man's head on a silver platter when he spurns her romantic advances. Ironically, the director's personal story uncannily parallels that of the operatic subject matter she's now in the process of staging, presenting her, as well as many other members of her cast and production team, with an opportunity to examine themselves, their circumstances and the ghosts of their long-ignored pasts. In a sense, this scenario thus provides all concerned with a chance to work through their respective long-unresolved (and often-interrelated) issues, a de facto form of art therapy not unlike that explored in films like "Black Swan" (2010). Unfortunately, the narrative is overloaded with story threads and at times becomes a little too intricate and cumbersome for its own good. What's more, after a while, the myriad connections linking these various subplots start to seem a tad convenient and contrived to be believable, regardless of how interesting they may each be in and of themselves. This tends to bog down the flow of the picture, which is unfortunate in light of the film's promising premise, intriguing production design, and fine performances by its ensemble cast, particularly Seyfried and Rebecca Liddiard as the production's property master. In all truthfulness, none of this is meant to suggest that this is an awful film; indeed, "Seven Veils" genuinely borders on being a truly engaging, memorable, well-crafted work. However, with so much going on, it tries to cover too much ground, which, if it had been judiciously pared down, could have made for an outstanding release. As it stands now, though, this is a case of an ambitious filmmaker not quite knowing when to quit trying so hard and not realizing that sometimes there's no need to go overboard in trying to impress viewers.

Seyfried acting is excellent. Reality turns out to be even more tragic and complicated than the opera plot. Or perhaps we could say, that this is a way to convey a reality as dramatic as an opera, without taking focus from the work they are all doing.

I enjoyed it, though the subject can be hard to watch at moments. The work of a director can be fascinating and I really liked the way she developed it, without second guessing herself even though she is new, even when everybody seems against her, or even when they all try to make fun of her and assume they all know better than her because they are some part or it.

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.