Review of Cracks (2009) by Manu G — 21 Jun 2013

Innocence isn't lost. It's taken.

Good Film! This film is very well played by all actors, including the young girls, directed beautifully and using both impressive scenery and great costumes. Eva Green played a complex character, easy to sympathize with at times, easy to loathe at others. She carried this film almost to perfection. While the beginning of the film is effective due to its period authenticity and performances, the story itself is somewhat sleight. I realize that the opening hour and a half or so is needed to allow for the stellar final twenty minutes, but maybe the danger could have been alluded to earlier. Every emotion and feeling is conveyed by expert story telling, such as the mood of the scene and the body language of actresses. They draw viewers into their world, and into their feelings. One can easily tell Miss G's attraction, confusion and panic; Di's jealousy and Fiamma's emotional change throughout the film. Such an empathy inducing film is rarely seen nowadays. The cinematography by John Mathieson finds both the haunting beauty of the isolated St. Mathilde's School and the splendid panoramas of nature add immeasurably to the film as does the musical score by Javier Navarette - a score that combines Anglican hymns with gentle piano music. This is a triumph for all concerned and bodes well for the career of Jordan Scott. That being said, Jordan Scott you are a genius! Needless to say, I'm looking forward to see more of your work.

Within the confines of a strict, all-girls English boarding school (circa 1930s), a clique students participate on the swim team not only to pass the time, but to be close to their swimming instructor, the enigmatic, yet charismatic, Miss G (Eva Green). While Miss G originally encourages their idolization and crack (crush) on her, the teachers attention is quickly focused on the arrival of an exotic and beautiful Spanish foreign pupil, Fiamma (María Valverde). As the new girl rebuffs her classmates, and further rejects Miss Gs interest, her teammates begin to grow jealous of Miss Gs fascination with Fiamma, and resent the latters distain of their instructor, accumulating in the inexplicable disappearance of Fiamma.