Augustine
Set in Belle Époque France, director Alice Winocour's sensual, fiercely intelligent tale of female sexual awakening follows nineteen-year-old "hysteria" patient Augustine, the star of Professor Charcot's experiments in hypnosis, as she transitions from object of study to object of desire. Winocour refreshingly foregoes many of the clichés of the asylum genre, notably by favoring a warm, pale-golden glow to her photography that stands in welcome contrast to the icy, clinical look of so many films set in institutions. Provocatively challenging traditional notions of female sexuality and agency, Augustine is both a meticulous recreation of a specific time and place and a timeless story about human connection and the pleasures that can result from succumbing to our irresistible desires.

6/23/2013 - 6/27/2013

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