Augustine (Alice Winocour, 2013)

Alice Winocour's feature debut, Augustine, displays a skill with direction beyond its makers experience. If anything, there is too much going on in the frame, over-stressing the modern vantage point from which Winocour views the reductive medical treatment of women barely more than a century ago. This works for and against the film, its central focus on the patient, not doctor, recontextualizing a revered man's ethical behavior but also taking subtle commentary and exaggerating it. What remains is a fine film, but I could not help but be disappointed that the Jane Campion-esque direction and structure at the start slowly deflated into a more obvious, less confident picture. Nevertheless, it would be wise to make a note of Winocour's name for future reference.

My full review is up now at Spectrum Culture.