Cracks (2009)

good back-story, and good acting

A Disappointing Continuation

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

Our story takes place in England, 1934. At an upper class boarding school for girls, Miss G. is a teacher (played by Eva Green, notable in The Golden Compass) who gives special attentions to the six girls who are on her "diving team". Being on the team gives them prestige within the school, but the greatest benefit is their association with the young teacher who, unlike the gray-haired martinets on staff, is chic, somewhat rebellious, and willing to bend or break the rules for her girls. She fills their heads with poetry and romantic tales of adventure and romance. The team has a special bond and, as we will learn, a delicate equilibrium.It is announced that a new girl (Fiamma)--an aristocrat from Spain--will be joining the team. Di, the ostensible leader of the team, is immediately threatened by the mere presence of an outsider. It does not take long for Fiamma's ways to alter the balance of privileges. Di cannot compete with Fiamma's worldly experience, her seemingly exotic Spanish heritage, or her diving ability.Although Fiamma really has no desire to insinuate herself into Miss G's affections or to alter the hierarchy of the team, her mere presence does just that. What follows is a succession of moves by Di and Miss G to regain the team's equilibrium. Since the agents in this drama are adolescent girls and a teacher who (we shall discover) has emotional issues, each action results in unexpected reactions that portend serious consequences.As in Lord of the Flies, we have a subculture that encourages anti-social behavior, set within the larger culture of the school, which is in many ways, a prison (located on an island). Fiamma, like Piggy in LOTF, has a physical weakness that may be exploited--she is asthmatic.Cracks is a fine drama, directed and co-written by Jordan Scott, daughter of Ridley Scott. She gives us a sensitive, well-filmed coming of age story that also has things to say about institutions and reputations.

At an elite British boarding school, a group of girls idealize their mysterious swim teacher Miss G (Eva Green). Miss G tells the girls stories of her adventures before she decided to become a teacher. Di (Juno Temple), the leader of the group, and Miss G's right hand girl, has a teenage crush on her incredibly attractive teacher. But when Fiamma (Maria Valverde), a new student from Spain, joins the group of girls, Miss G becomes infatuated with Fiamma. But Fiamma does not care for Miss G's attention. She is a highly intelligent young women who has not been held captive in a boarding school her whole life, and Fiamma starts to notice that Miss G is not who she seems to be. Eva Green is remarkable as Miss G. Every time she is on screen I could not help but stare into her eyes, she is absolutely gorgeous. Green displays serious fierceness in her role as Miss G. She strikes every note right, and she cuts to the heart of the audience with just a simple look. She reminds me a lot of Marion Cotillard, they both have the eyes that tell a story of their own. Also check out Eva Green in "The Dreamers". Juno Temple is perfect as Di. She knew how to give her character the soft, and pompous creepiness that it needed. Maria Valverde who played Fiamma was the weakest of the main cast but that does not mean anything. She still held her own against Green and I truly enjoyed what she brought to the role. I can't wait to see what these young actresses do next. The film is directed by first timer, Jordan Scott who is Ridley Scott's daughter, and it felt like she made this movie with complete ease. I hope her next film is just as good. I give Cracks a 9 out of 10

The website, Afterellen.com, fronts 'Cracks' as a "lesbian" film. I'm not exactly sure what constitutes LGBT cinema. But I feel that this one is about bottled up sexual energy, not lesbian love. The girls in the school are institutionally kept ignorant of sex and the perils of the real world. What we witness is nature's victory over man as the sexual audacity of youth overtakes Miss G and Di, with Fiamma as their victim.Miss G is the villain, but not in the conventional sense. I presume she's never had a boyfriend nor a healthy sexual relationship of any kind. So she naively mistakes her infatuation with Fiamma as love, causing her repressed sexuality to leak through the cracks and end up on the wrong person. Fiamma unwillingly finds herself as a combatant against Di over Miss G's attention. At the end of the second act, Di gains the upper hand by removing Fiamma from the school altogether.However, this is a three-way antagonism since the two active role players are Miss G and Di. Miss G makes three failed attempts to earn Fiamma's devotion: by charming her, exercising power over her, and fraternizing with her. Meanwhile, Di is keen to impose the school's social strata against Fiamma, who remains ever so resilient due to her advanced maturity.The third act exercises Fiamma's only remaining option- to befriend Di. But the truce is cut short when Miss G performs her final act of desperation by raping Fiamma. This action was catalyzed by Miss G's last interaction with her; one where she lost some of the team's respect ("Since Fiamma knows what's best, let her take the reigns!").This narrative is a classic example of an established social order turned upside down with the arrival of a newcomer (think 'Mean Girls'), and the school will never be the same for them. Fiamma's death catapults Di to search for a better life outside of the establishment while Miss G finally faces reality.To a lesser extent, this is a parable of man-made structure that attempts to sculpt human behavior by building walls around children and repressing their natural curiosity. This indoctrination usually works, but has its casualties. The ending reveals that Miss G is one such casualty.

It's hard to spot any weaknesses in this excellent 1934-drama, dealing with teenage girls in their boarding school.You may say that this school's location in the countryside is more isolated than one may believe possible. On the other hand, this isolation is functional to make 'Crack' work.Apart from this, there can only be praise for this film. First of all, its acting stands out. Providing us with a most credible picture of life inside such a school. Also connecting well with this film's coherent story. Second, acting and story are very well supported by a high-quality shooting, that lends much from the lovely landscapes around. Acting, story and shooting all excellently merge together into this fine piece of entertainment.