The Beguiled is an artfully done film about women in cages

There's a striking visual motif that pops up every so often in Sofia Coppola's film The Beguiled: a shot of sunlight filtering through the trees. It evokes a feeling of emotions struggling to break the surface, whether it be desire or a longing for freedom. The film's main characters, teachers and students in a remote seminary in the American South during the Civil War, are relatively sheltered from the war's effects, but the sounds of distant fire serve as a grim reminder of how trapped they are.

And the main characters of the film are for all intents and purposes trapped in a cage of their own, and this resonates on many levels: on the surface they are surrounded by the stark reality of the Civil War. At the same time, their true natures are hidden behind facades of civility and decorum. Removed from the concerns of the war, their small boarding house serves as an oasis, isolated from the rest of the world. Yet as women, they are still bound by tradition and the societal norms of the day. With war representing the affairs of men, they are literally and figuratively surrounded by men, unable to escape their influence.

This is exacerbated by the arrival of Corporal McBurney, who proves to be a disruptive influence on the group. You can see it by how the camera travels over his body near the beginning of the film. Some of this attraction is overt; some of it is hidden behind pregnant stares. In this regard, A stellar cast is needed, and Kirsten Dunst, Elle Fanning and Nicole Kidman all deliver.

Upon comparing this to the 1971 Don Siegel adaptation, the film remarkably captures the essence of the source material, while expanding the women's perspective. One thing I noted was the omission of a slave character that existed in the 1971 adaptation. Personally, it would have been nice conceptually to include the character in the film. While Coppola has no obligation to be historically accurate with her films (one look at Marie Antoinette and one realizes she isn't as heavily concerned with accuracy) it's understandable given her desire to streamline the plot.

The Beguiled is visually lush, layered by a keen arthouse sensibility , Its final sequence is ambivalent, underscoring a desire for empowerment and independence, but reminding us at the same time that then and even today, women occupy gilded cages.