Zurich Film Festival: The ghosts of the past
As part of the gala premieres, the star-studded directorial debut “The Lost Daughter” by Maggie Gyllenhaal will be screened at the Zurich Film Festival.
the essentials in brief
- The Lost Daughter is based on a novel by the Italian author Elena Ferrante.
- Oscar winner Olivia Colman plays a literary scholar in it.
- The film is the directorial debut of the well-known actress Maggie Gyllenhaal.
- The Zurich Film Festival runs from September 23 to October 3.
The film “The Lost Daughter” is prominently cast with the Oscar and ZFF honorary laureate Olivia Colman and the well-known Hollywood actress Dakota Johnson.
The psychodrama is about the British Leda, a woman in her late 40s. She is also the mother of two children and a professor of literature. She rented a holiday apartment on a Greek island for a work holiday.
Everything seems idyllic until …
At the beginning it is quiet and Leda has the beach to herself. She enjoys flirting with the handsome college student Will, who works in a bar. Everything seems to be perfect in the picturesque resort.
But the bliss suddenly ends when a noisy American-Greek family arrives and concerns a villa on the beach.
Nina, a beautiful young mother, is immediately noticeable to the British woman. Leda helps her and brings her back to Nina.
However, she secretly keeps the girl’s doll. An act that WILL run like a red thread through the entire film.
Nina is overjoyed and grateful that she has her beloved child back, but the little one is heartbroken. Your favorite toy is simply nowhere to be found.
Faced with motherhood
The encounter with the family sets Leda back into her own past and makes her more and more obsessive. Leda remembers her own daughters, a time when she wanted to make a career herself.
The conflict between motherhood and a woman’s professional success is a central theme of the drama.
The film jumps back and forth in Leda’s spiritual world between the present and an eventful past. Colman shines as an ambivalent protagonist and more than lives up to her demanding role.
“The Lost Daughter” will run on October 2nd at 3:30 p.m. in Kosmos 1 at the Zurich Film Festival.
Infobox
Production country: USA, UK, Israel, Greece
Length: 121 minutes
absolutely: English
Genre: drama
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