Guinevere

Harper, the daughter of a rich family, is expected to become a lawyer but frightens her family by starting a relationship with an elderly bohemian photographer. He calls her his Guinevere and teaches her all about the arts. Harper appears to be one in a long line of young Guineneveres that has been educated but she doesn't mind. Audrey Wells made headlines with Guinevere at the recent Sundance Festival. The film deals with a delicate subject - elderly man picks up a young girl- but it was the actors' performances that caused a buzz. Harper is played by Sarah Polley, a 20-year-old Canadian, young and strikingly beautiful, who captivated both the press and the audience and was at once tipped as a rising star, a new Winona Ryder or Parker Posey. With parts in Exotica, Sweet Tomorrow, Go, and eXistenZ her dreams of becoming a writer will have to wait for a while. Guinevere is a beautiful film based on a story that could easily be banal and exaggerated, the beautiful, naive little princess revolts against her parents by turning to the talented but declining artistic layabout. The Beauty and the Beast. The Lady and the Tramp. But Audrey Wells holds back the offensive element and concentrates on the odd relationship between the student and her mentor. Who is the giver and who is the taker? Is it a question of revolt, a life line, or development? The relationship is a peculiar symbiosis where one wonders which person really needs the other one. Instead of giving all the answers the film is a sensitive drama about the maturing of an uncertain girl. ''He was the worst man I ever met, or maybe the best. I don't know. I was his Guinevere - whatever that means.'' In one way these lines sum up the film.

Medverkande
Sarah Polley, Stephen Rea, Jean Smart, Gina Gershon: Producent
Brad Weston: Manus
Audrey Wells: Foto
Chuck Minsky: Musik
Christophe Beck: Talat språk
English