After six hours of Hitler's point of view in 'The Greatest Story Never Told' (see next post) I wasn't in the mood for a clichéd German-defeat narrative. However, Cate Shortland's Lore is a beautiful movie and steers well clear of the simple minded diagnosis of Shoah Business, nasty Nazis and Heroic Brits.
I just watched a snotty Guardian review of the movie which I totally disagree with. The movie is less about the journey than looking at the steps along the way and that starts with the first stubbing out of a cigarette by a man in his own mansion-like house on the floor. If the Guardian reviewers were paying less attention to the 'dressing' they may have spotted the leitmotif of steps along the way.
I thought the movie was going to spiral into predictable victimhood when a character reveals their Jewish identity but surprisingly it acts as a catalyst and takes the movie into new areas that the media usually avoid.
I'm all filled up on the forgotten genocides of the Second World War at the moment but this movie didn't take me over the edge and is repeatedly elegant in each film. The female star of the movie, Lore is unforgettable in terms of young German beauty and her uninvited companion delivers a role that is far more complex than I first assumed. I'm now going to watch Cate's other movie Somersault based on what she achieved in Lore.
