Watch | 07. Oct 2021

Lost And Found

Two actresses made me want to watch the movie even though I had almost forgotten about the book I had read two years earlier. To have Olivia Coleman and Dakota Johnson in one film seemed to be an opportunity too precious to be missed. So I gave away the chance of one of the last sunny autumn days to spend my afternoon in a dark movie theatre at Zurich Fim Festival.

I had read "The Lost Daughter" (in German while vacationing in Southern Italy, always a perfect location for reading Elena Ferrante´s books) and felt quite touched by the plot: as in her world famous books about two girls growing up in Naples, Ferrante speaks in a frank way about failing those expectations which society is demanding from you as a woman: being a sexy lover, a perfect wife and a devoted mother.

As first time director Maggie Gyllenhal translates the story to America (and the Greek island of Hydra as holiday spot) you will find out that those doutbts and failures touch women everwhere; there is a reason why my Brooklyn friend introduced me to Ferrante´s books first - they had been a bestseller in the US before they became famous in the rest of the world.

When you listen to the brilliant cast talking about the movie at New York Film Festival you learn about all those actresses´ and actors´ perspectives - but Ed Harris´comments stuck out, saying, his wife Amy Madigan, also an actress, made him look at the world from a female perspective. He accepted his part on the spot.

As Xan Brooks wrote in the "Guardian": "I’m not convinced, on balance, that Gyllenhaal’s delicious drama is finally much more than a storm in a teacup. But what a cup, what a storm. When Hurricane Colman blows in from the sea, be sure your roof is in good shape and that all the windows are fastened."

What else can you say.