CheerupSilver
Very Cool!!!
DipitySkillful
an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.
Roy Hart
If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.
adalaur
Having read about this film as part of a few film festivals I was intrigued and yet hesitant to watch it myself. I knew that it was about a very emotionally challenging relationship and experiences. As things happen, it resurfaced right at the right time, following a break up and challenging custody agreement process I was in. This movie does not shy away from the challenges and experiences we as humans go through in the attempt to relate, love and build lives together with other humans. And in particular it brings to the forefront how our innocence, expectations, earlier emotional wounds greatly impact how we exist and relate to others. For women, I believe this movie begins to create a way to peal off layers we have put on to face the world, to ultimately heal our own wounds by acknowledging and accepting them as wounds. I would say for any woman that has had a relationship with challenges in relating, which I feel is most relationships (also between friends and family) this film begins to create a means of talking about why it can be so difficult to be in relationship. The scenes from the theatrical play group within the movie are so cinematically beautiful and the female nudity which is presented is so raw and real and natural.
renhir
Inanna (Amy Ferguson) joins an experimental theater group that works on the Mesopotamian myth of Inanna, and more specifically on the liberation of enslaved women. After a few rehearsals, she comes to the conclusion that she does not possess the primal rage and the raw longing for freedom that the other women in the play possess. In a most upsetting scene, these women tell how they have been victims of extreme (sexualized) violence. At the same time, Inanna falls head over heels in love with Derek, a mask maker (Morgan Spector), and marries him. Right from the start, she adapts her life to his, while he refuses to change anything in his own life. He doesn't even stop the affair he had with his assistant (Antonia Campbell-Hughes), claiming that she was there first. Inanna soon realizes that she is losing her identity while getting nothing in return. Profoundly wounded and feeling like drowning, she is now able to express the primal rage and the raw longing for freedom that the play requires from her.
TheInfamousAnon
I normally would never review anything, but I saw the score this film had on here and A review and I felt it was given a disservice. I personally watched the film by mistake assuming it was Split with James McAvoy and only realized about 30 minutes in it was not, being so far in I decided to finish the film, AS any courteous film viewer would. The film as a whole is confusing, from the beginning it does not let you know what the true plot or point is, it leaves you in the same state the main character is in, facing the unknown. And as it develops you realize you are on a journey of self discovery with the lead Inanna(Amy Ferguson) and really a exploration of female sexuality and an unequal relationship. The true joy and beauty of the piece is the unapologetic female nudity and sexuality, at many moments there are women of all body types and races on screen and in no way do they feel sexualized by the male gaze or devalued in anyway. I found the male lead delightful, Derek(Morgan Spector) was played very well and the character felt deep and addled throughout, but just together enough for you to feel the same as Inanna as she falls for him. The film was supported by many great actors and actresses who made the whole feel thick and real, it hit on many issues worth thought and i would recommend this film to anyone who enjoys sexuality and intense self realization pieces. Though I must say there is a lot of sex and nudity so anyone faint of heart should think before watching but personally I say go for it.The movie is by Deborah Kampmeier, I have not seen her other films (Virgin, HOUNDDOG) but because of this film I am going to go watch them.
Jan Lisa Huttner
This stunning new film uses familiar images from prior Kampmeier films (e.g., the naked women in the lake in VIRGIN, the snakes in HOUNDDOG, etc) to go in daring new directions that are even deeper, darker & more rewarding.Amy Ferguson is very good as "Inanna" (an actress piecing together a career in New York's Indie Theatre scene), but Morgan Spector is a revelation as "Derek" (a tormented artist who makes brilliant theatrical masks which seem to have been born in Julie Taymor's worst nightmares).SPLIT is not for the faint of heart & I have no doubt it will prove to be just as controversial as VIRGIN and HOUNDDOG. But remember this: no one knew Elizabeth Moss before Kampmeier cast her as the lead in VIRGIN, and Dakota Fanning had only played kid roles before Kampmeier cast her as the lead in HOUNDDOG. She also cast Robin Wright in key supporting roles in both films. So if actresses of this stature have put their trust in Deborah Kampmeier, then so should you!
