35/29
A serious theater director is tasked with reconstructing her former mentor’s most famous work, the opera Salome. Disturbing memories from the past allow her repressed trauma to color the present. This is Amanda Seyfried’s second appearance in a film directed by Atom Egoyan since Chloe (2009). Mentioned in Amanda the Jedi Show: I ALMOST WENT OUT | Best and Worst TIFF 2023 (2023). There is a fascinating and haunting Hawthorne story in which the father, a distinguished avant-garde physician, fiercely cares for his daughter. As a child, he gradually introduces her to a deadly poisonous plant. Before she matures, anyone who gets too close to her will suffer and die. The plant’s poison is infused into her lifeblood. The woman is beautiful and terrible. “Do you not love,” she asks, “that no one can strike you down?” Her response cuts to the bone. “Father, I’d rather love someone.” Jeanine is a theater director who, like the woman in Hawthorne’s story, is trying to escape the shadows of heartless people. She has experienced abuse from her father, her mentor, her husband, and now an arrogant actor—the abuse they call “love.” Jeanine is trying to heal and transcend it without losing what is essential and good about herself. She is trying to break free from the traps that have been set for her. To find something else. “Take away one sense and another gains perspective.” I love Egoyan’s films for their depth, their surprising twists, and their exploration of intriguing themes (passion, wrong judgments, abuse, trying to find your way after wrongs have been done, love, perspectives different from mine, and more). Following a woman adrift in the aftermath of abuse, Seven Veils continues the typical Egoyan vein. The action takes place in the Canadian Opera Company building, a few blocks from where I saw the film’s world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. While Egoyan spent too much time in the theater for my taste, I understand why. Egoyan directed a real-life production of Salome and molded much of it into Seven Veils . Some of the actors from the opera house even appear in the film. Jeanine is skillfully brought to life by Amanda Seyfried. Off-topic—why did Seyfried have the surgery? Not that she looks bad now, but she looks much better in Egoyan’s previous film, Chloe . (long sigh) When I think about Seven Veils , I like it better. Moving beyond the trauma of abuse is a fascinating subject. Someone who said they loved me hurt me deeply. Sometimes it’s hard to convince myself that I’m worthy of love. I see my own struggles in Jeanine’s battles.