Cracks

"Let nothing hold you back except the air itself. You are between heaven and earth. The rules no longer apply." A teacher (Green) at a boarding school for girls tries to teach them about real life. When a new girl arrives at the school and takes Miss G's (Green) attention from her, Di (Temple) becomes jealous. This is a movie that drags a little, but is still very good. Eva Green's performance alone is worth watching this for. The entire movie she keeps you guessing as to what kind of person she is. Just when you think she is helping the girls, something changes and you are not sure anymore. I would compare this to "Dead Poet's Society", but a darker version of that movie. I did enjoy this but again, it is pretty slow in parts but it is worth it to stay with it until the end. Overall, this is a good movie, but not for everyone. A very dark British version of "Dead Poet's Society" for girls. I give it a B-. Would I watch again? - I don't think I will. *Also try - Never Let Me Go

While this might seem like your typical boarding school drama it isn't. It's a surprisingly beautiful film with wonderful cast and some fantastic scenery. However, it's Eva Green's performance and the music that won me over. The entire score is done by Javier Navarrete - who was nominated for an Academy Award for his score of Pan's Labyrinth - needless to say, it was phenomenal and really adds so much to the movie. It might be a little slow paced but I don't think that detracts at all. I found that you could sympathize with a lot of characters as the main themes were abandonment, favouritism, fear, and the desire to be wanted. It was nice watching the characters all develop and start to accept Fiamma. I read the book after watching the movie and there were a few things that had been changed - the ending in particular. The book featured a more "Lord of the Flies" ending whereas in the movie it's not nearly as explicit and much less horrifying... if one can really say that. Either way, I'd highly recommend the film.

Jordan Scott, niece of director Tony Scott who with his brother Ridley Scott serve a executive producers of this film, makes and impressive debut as a director/writer (with Ben Court and Caroline Ip) in this intensely interesting and well crafted adaptation of Sheila Kohler's novel CRACKS. This is a period piece (1934) that takes place in St. Mathilda's School in Stanley Island, England, an isolated all girl British boarding school. The mood is one of Gothic evil where rich young girls participate in the cloistered rigid education imposed by the matrons of the school -Miss Nieven (Sinéad Cusack), Matron (Helen Norton), and Miss Lacey (Deirdre Donnelly) - whose chief concern is to guard the reputation of the school at all costs, and lightened only by the presence of the swimming/diving coach Miss G (Eva Green) whom the girls admire for her exotic beauty, worldliness, supposed travel around the world, and her possessiveness of her brood. One of the girls, Di (Juno Temple in a brilliant performance), is the team captain and the apparent favorite of Miss G - until the sudden arrival of a beautiful Spanish girl Fiamma (María Valverde) who tends to set herself apart form the rest of the claque (Di, Poppy (Imogen Poots), Lily (Ellie Nunn), Fuzzy (Clemmie Dugdale), Laurel (Adele McCann) and Rosie (Zoë Carroll). Fiamma is an expert diver and her gifts as a sportsman as well as her beauty attract Miss G, replacing Di as her favorite. In jealous rage Di gathers the claque and plans the exit of this unwanted intruder. How this backfires and increases Miss G's attraction to Fiamma leads down another path of evil that pulls this little tale of terror to a surprising end. Eva Green manages to make Miss G a fascinating character and her gradual obsession with Fiamma and the direction that takes her is a very fine performance. But the entire cast - girls and teachers - is superb, especially Juno Temple in a career making role. 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. Grady Harp

Mesmerising. Predictable perhaps, but only because it stays true to so many classic roots (Think Picnic at Hanging Rock meets Lord of the Flies meets Death in Venice... the list goes on) Yet it's never clichéd. Definitely an instant classic on so many levels, and that's before one realises it was directed by the progeny of one of the world's greatest filmmakers - should that be prodigy? Given the history, I feel it's almost a pity there wasn't a part for Harvey Keitel, as he seems to star in the debut masterpiece of more than a few great modern directors, including Ridley Scott, Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, etc... Personally I would have given him a small cameo as one of the townspeople just for fun! Bravo the Scott Clan (no wonder it felt a bit like watching The Hunger for the first time.) - Encore!

The film also reminded me of Lord of the Flies. It was like a cinematic challenge: can the same horror emerge from the humanity of children if they are girls, not boys, and they are in a prestigious English school, not lost on a wild island. The answer is yes! I feel that I spoil quite a lot saying more, so enough said. This film is very well played by all actors, including the young girls, directed beautifully and using both impressive scenery and great costumes. What I found a little odd was the speed with which the girls were switching from best friends to evil witches and back again. I am told children are like that, so I should have probably ignored that some of the girls there were hot as hell and considered them all well under age. Eva Green played a complex character, easy to sympathize with at times, easy to loathe at others. She carried this film almost to perfection. Bottom line: I kept this film in my private collection. I think it is a must see.

I saw this movie at the Toronto International Film Festival premier in September 2009. It's the story of a group of girls at a boarding school in 1934 who are connected by being part of a swim team headed by a charismatic teacher. The teacher, Miss G., is an independent, adventuresome young woman who serves as a hero and role model to her students. She's a Katherine Hepburn type, who is such an appealing character you are as disappointed as you are disgusted by her tragic weakness. The movie got a great response from the audience and I recommend the film. The movie is quite sexually sensual, and very deliberately so, but I don't think this movie is simply about sexual awakening, or the perils of succumbing to forbidden lust. The film takes time and care to show how many of the girls have been sent to the school by rich parents who simply don't want to deal with them. Consequently, Miss G. has not simply become a role model to the young girls, but a role model to young, neglected girls. All of this does not come into focus until the end. There are hints early that Miss G. was involved previously in something disreputable, but at the time we are led to believe that it may have only been due to her independent nature. But everything does become clear. In a scene near the end, after the tragedy, the students read a letter from Miss G which is so devoid of remorse or culpability that you are left to wonder if she had any honourable intentions as their teacher. The film is showing how vulnerable neglected children are to manipulation and abuse. Handled differently the movie could have been unseemly and impossible to watch, but instead it is thoroughly entertaining. For the majority of the movie we're involved in the interactions between the girl's and Miss G.'s true intentions don't become clear until the end. An entertaining and ultimately disturbing movie.

CRACKS – TRASH IT ( C+ ) Cracks was pretty disappointment though I've expected that it will be a good period movie. The story of the movie is really weak and confusing. The writers and director didn't try to give any history of reason for such a weird behavior of Eva Green's character. Her getting obese with a young student comes off very cheap and un-real. Why Eva was so massed up that was never shown and why the girls can't go back home neither that was shown in the movie. Eva Green performance was really good but because of the poor writing and messy screen play it came off really weird and over the top sometimes. I still didn't get the scene where Eva is really confused when she goes tot eh bakery why going to Markets is so scary for her? Juno Temple has done these sorts of roles many times, it wasn't a new genre for her. Maria Valverde is quite pretty and she did brought some freshness to the movie. Imogen Poots was fine and so as all the other girls. The ending of the movie is very very disappointed, overall just trash it, it's a complete waste of time and mind.

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source: Cracks

This movie has a definite edge to it, but in all honesty the edge is somewhat blunted. From the beginning, the situation just doesn't seem right. The movie is set in a girls' boarding school many years ago. The school is isolated, apparently on an island off the English coast. The school has a somewhat strange diving team (the point is eventually made that this team never competes against any other team) led by an attractive and charismatic coach known as Miss G (played by Eva Green.) Miss G's relationship with the team is more than just a student-teacher or coach-diver relationship. There's a closeness to the relationship, and particularly with Di (Juno Temple) - the team's captain. The relationship is strained by the arrival of a beautiful and talented newcomer named Fiamma (Maria Valverde). Fiamma is especially isolated. She's from Spain and so is completely out of her element, she comes from some type of aristocratic family and so there may be class issues and she immediately becomes Miss G's new pet - much to the dismay of Di, who had previously held that role. There was that degree of edginess in all this, but not much more. Things just weren't quite right. The movie picks up and becomes quite unsettling when the girls hold their "midnight feast" a little more than halfway through. Fiamma - having taken part in the feast - gets drunk. Miss G discovers her passed out and takes her out of the dorm and back to her own room. It's a bit unclear exactly what happens at this point, but it seems clear that Miss G lives up to the lesson she taught her team early on in the movie ("the most important thing in life is desire.") We know that at the very least she molests the drunken Fiamma. Whether anything more than what's portrayed on screen happens we don't know, of course, nor do we know for sure how long Fiamma is in the room with Miss G. The incident, however, sparks the movie and leads up to tragic results. Unfortunately, I thought this fizzled out a bit at the end. An edgy movie didn't end with too much of an edge. What stood out for me was the conviction of the headmistress that whatever tragedy had happened, what mattered was not the truth, but protecting the school's reputation. It's OK. Edgy at times, yes, but with an edge that's a bit blunt. (5/10)