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The Fine Art of Love: Mine Ha-Ha (2005)

Drama | 102 minutes
2,76 49 votes

Genre: Drama / Mystery

Duration: 102 minuten

Alternative title: L'Educazione Fisica delle Fanciulle

Country: Italy / United Kingdom / Czech Republic

Directed by: John Irvin

Stars: Jacqueline Bisset, Mary Nighy and Hannah Taylor Gordon

IMDb score: 5,4 (668)

Releasedate: 25 November 2005

The Fine Art of Love: Mine Ha-Ha plot

A group of young girls grows up in a girls' school, hidden between dark forests and sparkling streams. They don't know any better or they've always been here, so they can only fantasize about their origin. At least, in the few hours that they get the space for this. From early in the morning until bedtime, they are subjected to extremely rigorous classes in etiquette and ballet. This under the ruthless leadership of the head of the institute; an intense role by Jacqueline Bisset. She is in full control, as young Hidalla and her classmates Irene, Vera, Blanka, Melusine and Rain know. But when girls, some of them too, start to disappear under mysterious circumstances, the atmosphere at the school becomes grim.

Reviews & comments


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avatar van Decec

Decec

  • 6763 messages
  • 8667 votes

A good drama/mystery film...

Great story, except for the ending...

Great acting...

Famous actress Jacqueline Bisset ...

Occasionally nice HD quality widescreen...

Decent sound (no Dolby Digital available)...

dutch flagTranslated from Dutch · View original

avatar van rep_robert

rep_robert

  • 27552 messages
  • 4173 votes

At first, the plot sounds mysterious and exciting, but the execution is somewhat ordinary. The emphasis lies a little too much on sketching the situation, ultimately lacking a sense of suspense. The film attempts to get under your skin by having the girls psychologically slip further and further away from the situation they find themselves in, but you essentially miss the bond between them from minute 1 because a proper introduction of the characters is absent. As a result, the film actually fails in its objective.

Consequently, the film is never truly bad, but mainly due to a weak start, it never managed to grab me by the throat. I also found the film to look visually unappealing and dated, despite being from 2005.

2.5*

dutch flagTranslated from Dutch · View original

avatar van Fransman

Fransman

  • 3089 messages
  • 2317 votes

I saw it a long time ago. My opinion was moderately positive back then. I've seen it for the second time now, with Dutch subtitles. But I share the opinion of most people here. A lot remains unclear in the story. The characters and their motives also remain largely undeveloped. The film is supposed to rely on suspense and atmosphere rather than erotica. But actually, those three are insufficiently present to call it a good film.

Apparently, the film is based on a story by Frank Wedekind, and in his work, eroticism, although hidden, is much more prominent ('Lulu'). I was also reminded of 'Die Verwirrungen der junge Törless' by Robert von Musil, a contemporary of Wedekind. In that story, too, eroticism comes to the fore, but in both cases, it concerns something different. It concerns power. The power of one person, or group, over an individual, or another group. In this film, it takes place in a ballet school; in 'De jonge Törless', it takes place in a cadet school. The cruel games are a harbinger of what is to come, a few decades later.

dutch flagTranslated from Dutch · View original