I just saw this film tonight at the Seattle International Film Festival, and was very favorably impressed. I think, while it's not a great movie, that it's a very good one, and well worth seeing. *** The title is a bit misleading, in that there is a lot more lost than innocence in this movie. There is loss of life, loss of control, loss of personal focus, loss of illusion. And while there's a lot of innocence lost as well, it's not just sexual innocence. In fact, if the title were just plain LOSS, it would fit perfectly-- though admittedly it wouldn't sell as well! *** The visual style reminds me of Bergman's *Wild Strawberries*, as does the constant interleaving of various time periods. This is a tale told visually, rather than with narration or dialogue. Figgis is no Bergman, but he succeeds to a very large extent. The only fault I find is that the Adam-Eve symbolism is rather heavy-handed. Other than that, this is excitingly different from the ordinary, and should provoke lots of discussion.
Review of The Loss of Sexual Innocence
