B Ferguson

This movie is a masterpiece! The visual scope is amazing and is the acting. It recalled the epic films of the 60s and early 70s without holding back a single punch. But if you want to see dashing Hollywood actors looking like Prince Valiant, this is not the movie for you. It was a brutal time of war, and the players show signs of it. It is not a movie about chivalry and sword fighting although there is enough of sword paly. It is about a very brutal time in history, and specifically it is about the normalization of the horrible physical and emotional treatment of women. Yes, the rape that is the focus of this movie is shown three different times, but Jodie Comer's reaction, brilliantly subtle, is different each time. If you miss that, you've missed the point. And yes, rape IS a brutal act, which may be difficult for a good number of people, but again, the details of it are the core of the story. And also suitably import for those who left be the end, is how even when a women is a strong women stands by her convictions, it is the man who gets the glory, none goes to her, not even from her husband. Many people seem to be unhappy it is done in a Rashomon style, the same same story repeated over again (named after Kurosawa's 1950 "Rashomon" which is the story of a rape told from 4 different points of view). Bottom line, this is great film and will likely be a classic in time like many classic. important movies that flopped at the box office and was misunderstood by many. Remember, both Scott's The Duelists, and Blade Runner did poorly at the box office.