Pursuing a personal exploration with her friend and accomplice Tilda Swinton, already initiated in The Souvenir and The Souvenir – Part IJoanna Hogg finally materializes a project that she had been pursuing for several years, namely that of exploring the most unknown part of the life of a woman she has known throughout her entire existence: her own mother.
The British filmmaker does it in her own way, plunging her film into an atmosphere that is both mysterious and intimate, where sometimes even spirits can discreetly make their presence felt. The Eternal Daughter thus recounts the intimate quest of a director who invites her mother (Tilda Swinton plays both roles) to stay with her in the old hotel where the latter has already experienced in her youth episodes rich in memories.
This approach of an artist from a generation where the parents, who grew up during the Second World War, express themselves little about their childhood is illustrated without dramatic effects. The atmosphere is always hazy – even a little austere – but the story is rooted in a sincere questioning, drawn from the complexity of family relationships.
In the running for the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, during which a first version of this text was published, The Eternal Daughter is showing in its original version at Cinéma Moderne in Montreal.
Drama
The Eternal Daughter
Joanna Hogg
With Tilda Swinton, Carlie-Sophia Davies, Zinnia Davies-Cooke
1:34
Indoors