THE BEGUILED (B-minus) - A surprisingly un-suspenseful and undercooked Civil War period piece about a prim school for girls in the South that takes in a handsome injured Yankee soldier for some psycho-sexual intrigue.
A fine cast can't really lift Sofia Coppola's limp script and direction. Nicole Kidman is the stern headmistress, Kirsten Dunst is the aging spinster (she must be over 30!), and Elle Fanning plays a willing young seductress -- all vying for the attention of Cpl. McBurney (the too handsome and polite Colin Farrell).
Coppola, one of the best modern storytellers of the new millennium (see our list below), has grown less adventurous in recent outings. "The Bling Ring" was exciting but felt a bit shallow; other efforts, such as "Somewhere," have depth but can drag. You could make an argument that, with maybe an exception here or there, that each film has been slightly weaker than the previous one.
Here, there just isn't enough intrigue, suspense or sexual tension to make for a riveting story. The women and girls underplay their roles to the point of sleepwalking through the movie. A great storyteller is getting lost in the mist.
THE BEGUILED (1971) (B+) - From the '70s male perspective, we give you a much pulpier version that delivers more on its era's calling cards -- sex, gore, and psychological games.
Clint Eastwood's Cpl. McBurney is much more wolfish and direct than poor Colin Ferrell's; here, McBurney makes no bones about his ardor for each woman, overtly seducing the headmistress (Geraldine Page), the virginal wallflower (Elizabeth Hartman, playing 22 here, much younger than Dunst), and the randy teenager (a spicy Jo Ann Harris). It's clear that he's a player when, in the opening scene, he kisses 12-year-old Amy (Pamelyn Ferdin, familiar to '70s TV watchers). Everyone here is better than in the remake. It is much clearer that all of the women, even little Amy -- and, in the background quiet Doris (Darleen Carr, another TV regular of the time) -- are crushing on Cpl. McDreamy, and the sexual sparks are readily apparent. Page, as the matron (in this version, with a saucy family secret), is a much more believable dowager type than Kidman, who comes with that modern, sculpted age-defying beauty.
Director Don Siegel forgoes oblique mood-setting for more in-your-face drama and intrigue. Some of his choices are cheesy and outdated -- an omnipresent black crow offering foreshadowing; voice-overs to convey characters' thoughts and motivations; unnecessary camera flourishes -- but he remembers to do what Coppola chose not to: sell the story. Sure, Siegel is crude where Coppola is subtle, stylish and tasteful, but this ain't beanbag here. It's intended as a riveting tale of loneliness, Southern traditions, war & slavery, human compassion and carnal desire. Siegel, faults and all, gets that. Coppola wanted to make a different film (one that makes the Civil War an afterthought and eliminates the one slave character at the school), and that's her choice. Her product is prim and moody; Siegel's gets its fingernails dirty.
Pick your poison, so to speak.
BONUS TRACK
A cataloging of our favorite Sofia Coppola movies, from our favorite to the least liked. Others might make a list that more clearly shows diminishing returns with each release, putting her debut film first and her most recent one last.
- Lost in Translation (2003)
- The Virgin Suicides (1999)
- Somewhere (2010)
- The Bling Ring (2013)
- The Beguiled (2017)
- Marie Antoinette (2006)
And we would drop her 2015 TV special "A Very Murray Christmas" smack dab in the middle of that list.
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