Aarcflick

This film evokes a haunting and unhealthy spell; it's a fairy tale of death-longing and erotic submission. It ingeniously merges the real and the fictional into a trance-like state, a state that has sometimes struck me as somewhat static in Lucile Hadzihalilovic's previous films, but not here. As strange as it may be (and indeed, at first glance, utterly absurd), this film captivated me with its two outstanding lead performances—from Marion Cotillard and newcomer Clara Pacini—and a strident soundtrack. Cotillard plays a diva-like film actress named Cristina, the protagonist of a new adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's The Snow Queen, filmed in a studio in a remote, snowy location in late 1960s France. She wears a magnificent outfit, a glittering, slinky white gown and crown, a look she carries off with great haughtiness and seriousness. Pacini plays Jeanne, a teenager in a nearby foster home, haunted by memories of her mother's death, whose beaded necklace she keeps...