Whirlpool of Fate

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Audience Member Jean Renoir's first solo film as director (following 1924's Une vie sans Joie) again casts his wife, Catherine Hessling, as lead. Hessling is a true silent screen movie star - her face is all exaggeration (and accentuated by make-up) - who overacts and mugs to the camera in a way that almost derails the productions she is in. As in the previous film, La Fille de l'eau shows some of the visual poetry of Renoir's camerawork - there are some wonderful shots of the waterways of France, and a brilliantly surrealistic nightmare that is the best thing in the film. It opens up well enough - the first twenty minutes, showing life on a canal boat, the death of the father, and the brutalisation of Virginia (Hessling) by her uncle. After she flees, and falls in with a petty criminal, the film begins to take on a more moralising tone and its impact is lessened. Perhaps now more of a film to be appreciated as a snapshot of a different time, and by cinema-history fans only, there are moments here that the casual viewer might appreciate. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/25/23 Full Review Audience Member Incredible suspense thriller!!! Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/19/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Whirlpool of Fate

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