CRACKS

UK, 2009, 113 minutes, Colour.
Eva Green, Juno Temple, Sinead Cusack.
Directed by Jordan Scott.

The predominantly male reviewers at the preview of Cracks were not doing too well with it at all. Macho it is definitely not and your average male, who is frequently accused of being notoriously lacking in sensitivity, let alone empathy, will probably not be on the wavelength of Cracks and find it tedious. I would guess that the response of female critics and many female audiences would have a very different response, much more interest and understanding.

It is based on a 1999 novel by Sheila Kohler which was set in South Africa. The film-makers have transferred it to England (though filmed in Ireland) and decided on 1934 as the best period to show the isolation and primness as well as disciplinary severity of an all girls' boarding school.

The director has got in before the reviewers by noting that she watched Picnic at Hanging Rock, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Heavenly Creatures and Lord of the Flies, titles which will probably come to mind while movie buffs are watching it.

This is a very British story, stiff upper lip (with quite some subconscious simmering) with a rigorous staff (led by a purse-lipped Sinead Cusack as the principal). We are in a female 'if...' atmosphere without the revolutionary mood of the 1960s. We spend a great deal of time with the routines of the school (chapel and hymn singing, meals, dormitories, sports) and listen to a great deal of girlish chatter.

What makes the difference is the presence of the sports mistress, who specialises in training a diving squad, the glamorous Miss G who dresses and acts like the main Hollywood actresses (and femmes fatales) of the period. She is languid, sensual as well as demanding and controlling and has her favourites. One of them, the captain of the special team is Di (Juno Temple embodying the needy, jealous and angry persona of a head girl who finds her position with the teacher's favourite being threatened). When a Spanish aristocrat arrives, Fiamma (Maria Valverde) and is well-travelled, literate and an excellent diver, some of the girls are charmed. Di is not. And Miss G becomes infatuated.

Eva Green perfectly embodies Miss G.

We can guess where this is leading – and it does go there. And, we discover that Miss G is not all she seems to be but rather a former student of the school who, despite her telling exotic stories about her travels, has never left the island where the school is situated. By the end, with watching girls' cruelty towards each other, we realise we are really in Lord of the Flies territory. In view of the child abuse crises of recent decades and accusations of cover-ups by authorities more concerned with the reputation of the institution, the final decisions of the Principal remind us that this was the belief of the times – and her pronouncement is exceedingly chilling.

This is the first feature film by Jordan Scott, daughter of Ridley Scott and niece of Tony Scott.

1.The focus on a girls’ school, boarding school, isolated, Britain in the 1930s?

2.The island, the views of the school, the building, the property, the water, the ferry? The town and the shops? The context for isolation?

3.The period, the 1930s, costumes and décor, the world at the time, in the United Kingdom, fascism?

4.The feminine sensibility for the film: the novel writer, the writer, director, cast?

5.The introduction to Miss G., Di talking with her, the boat, Di and her adoration, being Miss G's favourite? The teacher-student relationship? Unhealthy aspects? Talk about freedoms and lack of restraint? The effect, the consequences?

6.The school and its administration, the principal and her severity, image of the school, its reputation? The range of staff? The religious background? Chapel, the hymns? Meals? Classes? The dormitory? The supervisors? The teams, the divers? The sports coach?

7.The particular team, the ages of the girls, their talent, Di as head? Her demands in the dining room, getting the girl to melt the butter, on the toast? Superior attitudes? Poppy, Lily, Rose? The other girls? The tight-knit group? Di as their superior?

8.The news about Fiamma? The prejudiced talk about Catholics? Fiamma and aristocracy? The stories, their reaction, her arrival, her entourage, the respect of the staff? Di and her supercilious tone?

9.Fiamma as a character, her age, her father in Spain, trying to contact him, not wanting to be there, the isolation, accepting it, finding her bed, her place? The comments from the girls? Her success at diving, in class, her reading, her background, travel? The girls’ different reactions?

10.Miss G. as exotic, her style of clothes, manner, walk, smoking? Her arrival in chapel? With Di? With the team? With the rest of the staff? With the principal? The dives and her demanding standards? Fiamma and her success? Her reaction, Di's jealousy? Miss G. and her stories of travel, experiences? The reciting of the stories and Fiamma indicating that she had read the same stories? Miss G's life, as a boarder, narrow, never having left the island? Discipline? Her compensation, manner, clothes, style, film stars? Favouring Fiamma over Di? The party and her reaction? The drink? Taking Fiamma to her room, the sexual approach, the reactions?

11.Fiamma as a character, fitting in, not fitting in, persecuted? The girls engineering her escape, her progress, trying to get out of the town, her return? The idea of the party, dressing up, drinking, laughter? The noise around the school? Miss G's reaction? Di and her erratic behaviour, her reaction to Miss G. and Fiamma? Jealousy of Fiamma, attacking, the girls and their physical violence, killing her? The background of ideas like The Lord of the Flies?

12.Di and her age, sinister, her wanting favouritism, her imperious manner, erratic and changing, the party, liking Fiamma, jealous of her? The jealousy of Miss G's behaviour, rousing the girls, killing Fiamma? Her leaving, writing the letter – in Miss G's style?

13.The delineation of the other girls’ characters, leadership and following, diving, activities in the dormitory, chatter, talk, sexuality? Activities? Change of attitude towards Fiamma? The violence and the aftermath?

14.The principal, handling the situation, her decision to cover up, the importance of the school’s reputation?

15.A 21st century perspective on an all-girls’ school, a sequestered school, boarding school, absent and non-interested parents, the staff? consequences?