I recently watched 'Cracks' at Prince Charles Cinema(It used to be my favorite cinema before they refurbished it upstairs and increased the ticket prices).I was very impressed by the cinematography(especially the scenes under the water and the secret party on the roof)and the performances by Eva Green,Juno Temple and Maria ValverdeHowever,the film moves too slow and towards the middle I kind of lost interest and thought I could predict what's gonna happen but the end took me by surprise.Cracks is based on the novel by Sheila Kohler and it's directed by Jordan Scott(daughter of Ridley Scott). It's set in a 1930's boarding school and the plot revolves around the school's swiming team and their eccentric swimming instructor Miss G (Eva Green).Miss G is more like their cool,bohemian older sister than just another teacher in the school.She talks to them about things they've never heard before,places they've never been,she wakes them up in the middle of the night to go swimming and organises secret tea parties with them.Of course the girls are fascinated by her and and idolise her. Di(Juno Temple)seems to have a crush on Miss G.Di is the leader of the group.She gives orders and decides everything.She's also a perfect swimmer and Miss G's favourite.Their lives quickly change by the arrival of the exotic Spanish student Fiamma( Maria Valverde).Fiamma is beautiful and has travelled a lot,read a lot and knows uch more about life than the other girls do.Miss G,gets obsessed with Fiamma and her interesting life.She steals her letters her and her things and also develops a crush on her.It is obvious that Miss G hasn't really left this school since she was a student there herself and is mostly living in her imagination.It's easy to fascinate inexpierenced young girls but when it's time to go outside in the real world Miss G becomes a weak,insecure woman who can't even look anyone in the eyes and can't wait to go back to the place she's been hiding all these years.Miss G's obsession with Fiamma makes Di and the rest of her students jealous.They try to throw her out of the school and send her back to her country.
A lot of people compare this film to "The Lord of the Flies".I actually thought of that the same thing while I was watching the film.The isolation of the girls from the outside world,the feeling abandonment by their parents,increase their need for love and attention and can make them behave like animals in order to have something lke that.
I was very impressed by the costume design by Alison Byrne who was nominated for an IFTA Award for her work in Cracks.According to Alison Byrne,most of the costumes came from 'Angels' where she worked with the costumiers to put the overall look together.Apparently some of the costumes Eva Green is wearing in the film, were original 1930's pieces.Alison Byrne also borrowed some incredibly beautiful knitwear from John Galliano's Studio in Paris where they have Vintage Collections from the last 5 years that some of them were inspired from the 1930's.
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