THE BEGUILED: The Art Of Being Vengeful

Sofia Coppola’s film The Beguiled is not as much a remake as it is a re imaging. The original, starring Clint Eastwood, focuses more on the character of the corporal, while this film centers on the women of the seminary. While the overall plot is quite bleak, the acting and cinematography make for a beautiful film.

The film takes place in Virginia during the Civil War. The first shot of the film opens to a girl, Amy, humming and walking down a dirt road to pick mushrooms. She encounters a wounded Yankee soldier, Corporal McBurney, played by Colin Farrell. Amy takes him back to her home, the Farnsworth Seminary for Young Ladies. Martha Farnsworth, played by Nicole Kidman, is startled and apprehensive to take in the soldier, but ultimately believes it’s the good Christian thing to do. Ms. Martha’s right hand woman, Edwina, played by Kirsten Dunst, helps to clean McBurney’s wound.

Eventually McBurney recuperates while simultaneously weaving his way into each girl’s lives. After a tryst between Edwina and Alicia, played by Elle Fanning, a horrible accident occurs and quick decision has to be made. We find out quickly that the girls are not as meek and defenseless as they appear to be; they are more than capable of defending what is theirs.

Underwhelming Plot

One criticism of the film is that the overall story is rather mediocre. It takes place during the civil war, but isn’t a war movie. There is a romantic element, but it’s definitely not a romantic film. It has some creepy elements, but it is far from a horror film. The story basically boils down to being about women who don’t know how to handle a male presence. Now, for it being during that time period, that whole notion wouldn’t be a stretch, but I was craving something more. It needed a little more manipulation or toying. The trailer painted a picture of some macabre tale, but it was false advertisement.

After seeing Don Siegel‘s 1971 original, I can say that I prefer Sofia Coppola’s version. The women’s perspective was definitely more appealing to me and seemed appropriate, as there are more women than men in the story itself. Because the women are the central focus, we could have been given a little more backstory to each character. At least an explanation as to why each girl was at the seminary in the first place. But ultimately,  the film has less to do with the women’s individual nuances as it has to do with them banding together as a front against the world and McBurney.

The Look Of The South

What the story lacks it makes up for with the cinematography and overall look. There was an early morning shot that shows mist coming through the garden, it almost makes you feel the heat and humidity of the south. It’s often easy to forget the hardships of eras that came before ours, but seeing the girls tilling the soil, pumping water from a well, washing their faces from basins in their rooms reminds the viewer of the daily struggles that a person faced at this time.

The costumes reinforced the attitude toward women during the civil war; it was hot and humid, yet they were covered from neck to ankle. The clothing worked as a symbol for their daily repression. But the women used their clothing to their advantage when they wanted to impress the corporal. Filming in the plantation that served as the seminary also helped the story as the colors were stark and bare. The interiors felt very clinical and emotionless, but there was also an underlying sinister feel that a plantation naturally has.

Feminist Undertones

A film about a bunch of women not knowing how to act around a man is not inherently feminist. In fact, there were a couple of scenes that had me thoroughly perplexed as a female in modern times. When McBurney storms in after his accident, all of the women quiver in fear and link together behind a table. My first thought was “uh, hello, there are more of you than him. Just kick his leg and call it a day”.

But, for women in civil war time the thought of not obeying a man was unheard of. However, these women were not going to be messed with, either. There is a knock on the door one evening and Ms. Martha grabs a gun before answering it. It turned out to just be two confederate soldiers looking for food and they meant no harm, but Martha was prepared to defend her home and the girls.

Martha, Edwina and Alicia certainly should not have seen McBurney in a sexual light, especially because he was a Yankee. But he worked his way into their psyche. When Edwina goes to McBurney after his outburst, it struck me as a bit odd. Was she attracted to his rage, was she secretly a masochist? Ultimately, she went to him to calm him down in the hopes that he would no longer cause upset to the home. It appeared as if she had all the girls safety at heart.

When the final diner scene comes, everyone is eerily calm, especially Ms. Martha, who glares at McBurney from across the table. She acts in the complete opposite of McBurney, who screams and shoots his gun; Martha politely smiles as she takes down her opponent. A theme in many Sofia Coppola films is the subtly, muted expression of power. All the girls merely stare as McBurney suffocates, they don’t have to do anything else to flex prove that they’ve won their game.

The most obvious finger wag to the patriarchy is that the women are not the objects to ogle, it’s the man. When Ms. Martha is cleaning McBurney after he first arrives, the camera just focuses on Farrell’s stomach, hip bones and legs. We are seeing the admiration, and maybe lusting, for the male body opposed to the female.

Acting Vindication

Colin Farrell has been an underrated actor for quite some time, in my opinion. In Bruges, Seven Psychopaths, The Lobster; he just continues to up his game. The Beguiled proved to be no different in showing his acting capabilities, from meek harmed soldier, to crazed amputee. The role of McBurney had to be played by someone capable of range and someone who had the ability to seduce with their eyes; Farrell clearly has both.

Nicole Kidman also surprised me as playing such an understated character. I immediately expected a character that would similar to the part she played in Cold Mountain, both being southern in Civil War time. But she went above my expectations and portrayed a calculating mother lion.

I would have expected the roles played by Elle Fanning and Kirsten Dunst to have been swapped, but was impressed by each actor to fully live out their characters. Fanning just appears to be too angelic to be a menacing flirt, but she pulled it off. As for Dunst, it felt a bit uncomfortable for her to be playing second fiddle to Kidman, but her character is generally miserable, so it played into her overall tone.

One of the many things that I appreciate about Sofia Coppola’s work is that she has consistently been able to get genuine performances from her actors. It would be easy to throw on a Southern drawl and make caricatures of these girls, but Coppola just conveyed real emotions and real predicaments. This film felt like a strange counter part to The Virgin Suicides in that there was a general lack of emotion on the part of the female actors, yet they were totally relatable.

Conclusion

While I wish there was more to the story line of The Beguiled, it definitely did not disappoint. The film gives you a glimpse into the life of a female during the Civil War and the mundane daily duties that made up their lives. It ultimately is a film about how they react to an unwanted visitor and how no prep school can really prepare you for how to react. The film was shot beautifully and the actors were remarkable. Sofia Coppola has yet to disappoint me.

What are your thoughts about The Beguiled? What did you think of its feminist message?

The Beguiled opened in US theaters on June 30th, and will open in the UK on July 14th. For international release dates, check here.