an architect and her boyfriend move into a farmhouse that their new neighbors used to live in. The women in each house are dealing with pregnancy issues and the neighbor grandmother is a witch.
The award for least ability to tell a story in film goes to Nicolas Roeg. The plot of this, as with his other films, doesn't make much sense. There is a surface level where we see the people in locations and hear their dialogue, but the deeper level of meaning is a mystery. This was produced like a horror film. The grandmother was talking to someone or something that was never visible (maybe she was crazy and talking to the dog). There were these close-up shots of the puffball fungus that were so menacing that I thought there would end up being a monster in it. After one of the grandmother's chats with the dog, the screen is engulfed in flames. All of this buildup of horror elements led to the anticlimax where nothing really happened. There was also sex. Lots of loud sex. The video and audio were great though. The composition, framing and camera-work were phenomenal. There were even well-done special effects that looked like something magical. Overall, exactly what I should have expected from Roeg. With Mike Leigh, it seems like nothing is happening when the deep meaning is being presented. With Nicolas Roeg, it seems like deep meaning is being presented when nothing is happening. Crazy Brits. I rate this o.k. because it was such a well-made disappointment.
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