Hidden Information, Unhidden Daughters, Church

Rating: Null/10 (26 January 2009)

Okay, now I've seen the two simultaneous Winslet movies. Both are celebrated. Both seem to understand Kate's gift as an actress  that she is one of those rare players who can convey what a character does and also, via another channel, what she thinks or rather what motivates what she does. Its what I've called folded acting, with that second layer being a direct communication with the audience that annotates the first.
Its a specific sort of openness, and usually a filmmaker asks her to be obviously open. Both of these men, understanding this, have asked her to do the opposite. She is instead, obviously closed, using that second channel to convey that the channel is there but much is hidden.
Both of these films are amazing on this count. Its a new development in film acting in the 50 years or so since folded acting first emerged.
But otherwise, oh, what a difference in the two films. The "Revolutionary" one is made by her husband apparently just for this one effect. There is no narrative structure, only a stunt. The music is the main character there.
This film is wonderfully structured. It as rich in narrative facets as she is, each reinforcing the other. Seeing the two close to each makes me wonder why it isn't obvious
The film starts with us being told that literature, great literature is about hidden information. Then, throughout, we have the thread of the law, both referencing classroom and trial genres except for the focus on what is not revealed. This is folded into the very literature itself that is denied this woman, except in three circumstances: one we hear about and two we see.
And THAT is folded into love, its unrelenting yearning that can gnaw, its sex (obsessively, Germanically clean) and its idealistic romances. Both Chekhov and Homer as the templates. Wow, what care!
Its a matter of all choices having been discovered and not made. About what daughters do not know. Lena Olin has a career high here playing two generations. Her portrayal of the daughter is profound. We never really understand what happened with her: her mother was the only survivor of a specific situation. It seems that the daughter was born after the war and wrote a book about her mother's plight, never escaping the story.
Its all about observing, observing in every dimension and the power of looking even when you cannot seem to see.
At the end, there is a remarkable contrast between Hanna's stark cell, indeed everything in Germany we are shown as stark, and the opulent home of the daughter. There, she reminds that illiteracy is not a Jewish problem  this is after literature has been conflated with life.
There is a pretty, sexy law student with whom our lad sleeps. She may have become his wife and that one evening the origin of the other daughter. She is played by the same actress who was the Plum Girl in "Perfume," the original womanscent.
The role of a certain church is deliberately kept ambiguous. It may in fact be the church that we visit twice. We never really learn what happened there, and its significantly shrouded. That will always be hidden.
The same fellow who made this also made the similarly deep "The Hours" and the execrable feel good trailer trash "Billy Elliot." Go figure.
Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.