The Beguiled is stunningly composed and all about the female gaze

IF YOU allow yourself to give in to The Beguiled’s enchanting spell, you’ll be richly rewarded with a claustrophobic and tense Southern Gothic tale.

THE thing about Sofia Coppola is she’s interested in the stories of women, specifically privileged, young, white women.

That’s been the case since her debut with the wistful The Virgin Suicides, through Lost in Translation, Marie Antoinette, Somewhere and to The Bling Ring.

It’s her fascination with these emotionally-isolated female characters on the cusp of womanhood that has led to accusations against Coppola as being kind of one-note, even if her films are, undoubtedly, technical marvels that are beautiful to look at.

In her defence, a lot of filmmakers have a narrow field of interest, not everyone aspires to Kubrickian genre-hopping.

So if you’re a fan of Coppola’s work, her perspective and her voice, you’ll love The Beguiled. If you’ve found her movies grating or only really responded to Lost in Translation, her most accessible film, then this might not be for you.

In the last year of the American Civil War, Union soldier John McBurney (Colin Farrell) is wounded and wanders into the woods by Miss Farnsworth’s School for Girls in Virginia.

A mushroom foraging student finds him and brings him back to the school where all that remains is headmistress Martha Farnsworth (Nicole Kidman), teacher Edwina Morrow (Kirsten Dunst) and five students including Alicia (Elle Fanning) and Jane (Angourie Rice).

Sizzling chemistry between Nicole Kidman and Colin Farrell. (Ben Rothstein/Focus Features via AP)

The women and girls have been cloistered within the grounds of the school for a long time, becoming self-sufficient after “the slaves ran away”. While they can hear cannon fire from the nearby battlefield, for the most part, they’re insulated. The entry of this man, even an enemy soldier, into their confined existence stirs the stilted dynamic as they vie for his attention.

Each woman sees in McBurney a different possibility, even if they’re not fully aware themselves — Martha wants companionship, Edwina wants someone to take her away and Alicia needs a man to project her sexual awakening onto, while he becomes an older brother figure to the younger girls.

As he recuperates, his mere presence has agitated rivalries within the sorority, leading to some darkly funny moments. A dinner in his honour is particularly hilarious, especially the women’s game of one-upmanship over apple pie. But his flirtatious ways will prove to be his undoing as The Beguiled’s tone shifts from Southern Gothic to horror.

Taking that commitment to telling stories from women’s point-of-view, Coppola’s choice in remaking The Beguiled fits in perfectly with the rest of her oeuvre.

The original 1971 film directed by Don Siegel and starring Clint Eastwood (the pair’s iconic collaboration, Dirty Harry, would be released the same year) was adapted from a book by Thomas Cullinan.

By refuting the machismo present in the male authors’ previous versions, Coppola turns it around and makes The Beguiled centred on the female gaze. Here, it’s Farrell’s body that is exploited by the camera with close-ups, slowly taking in everything the women in the story are seeing with their eyes.

Claustrophobic and beautiful, The Beguiled is like a painting. (Ben Rothstein/Focus Features via AP)

She also establishes an interesting dynamic between the three lead female characters, playing on the generational gap between each of them. Kidman’s character is the first time Coppola has really given focus and perspective to a middle-aged woman and Kidman’s wonderfully chilling performance, playing up the perception she’s “cold”, does the decision justice. Dunst, in her third collaboration with Coppola, puts in some of her best work as the haunted Edwina.

Coppola has come under criticism for excising the slave character present in earlier iterations — she said she didn’t feel she could do justice to issues of race during the Civil War — but there is a sense of damned if she does, damned if she doesn’t. While an uncomfortable move, the exclusion doesn’t detract from the film itself if you take it out of context.

Much of Coppola’s works do exist out of context, in their own gorgeous bubbles. And The Beguiled is stunningly gorgeous. Every frame, every sound adds to the film’s overall elegance. From the mist that draws around the school to each creak of the floorboards to the candlelit rooms, The Beguiled marvels.

There’s a reason Coppola won Best Director at Cannes for this film.

The claustrophobic tension that gives way to alarm is skilfully handled as the film approaches its final scenes, and it’s a credit to Coppola that she’s paced the film so well, like plucking the tightened strings of an instrument.

If you allow yourself to give in to The Beguiled’s enchanting spell, you might find yourself converted to Coppola’s cause.

Rating: 3.5/5

The Beguiled is in cinemas from Thursday, July 13.

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