At the Venice Film Festival they showed “The Commandment of Anne Lee,” a haunting, surreal musical about a woman’s religious sect in the 18th century, with the brilliant performance of Amanda Seyfried.
The return of director Brady Corbett and screenwriter Mona Fastvold before the competition program of the Venice Film Festival was a great success: as luck would have it, they showed here the epic drama “The Brutalist” with Adrian Brody, which brought the prize for best directing, and then three Oscars. It also became clear that the new job would also not be left unmarked.
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Between “The Commandment of Enn Li” and “Brutalist” there is actually a lot of flavor. Offering pages are historical biographical dramas, structured into sections with written headings. I'm offended by the tight acting skills, the music that gives Oscar winner Daniel Bloomberg shivers, and the hostile scenery. It’s a shame to go too long, wanting “Ann Li”, which is good, there may be a short year for the second year for “Brutalist”, whose triviality exceeds three and a half years. The grievances begin in earnest, first of all, it’s time to fight off the pantelik at your final act.
“The Testament of Anne Lee” tells the story of the life of Amanda Seyfried in the role of Anne Lee, the founder of the millenarian religious sect of the Shakers, created in England in the 18th century. Their followers practiced ecstatic dances and hymns during divine services, promoting celibacy and female leadership. Before the creation of the Shakers, Lee gave birth to four children, all of whom died in childhood.
The film is narrated by Thomasin Mackenzie (“Leave No Trace”, “Eileen”) – yawned, with a bandage on one side, the follower Anne. The line begins with a scene in the forest: shakers in black cloth and white droplets come out from behind the trees, creating the motor-driven atmosphere of a sabbath, with a hairy flock of horses. It is clear that this is the final point of history, and then the action moves from 1736 to the people of Enn.
We know that she grew up in smoky Manchester, from her childhood she worked hard in cotton factories and lived under the tyrant rule of her father. Her control becomes even weaker when she grows up and starts working as a cook in the infirmary. At this very hour, together with his brother (Lewis Pullman), he is leading a group called the Shakers. There she stands as a witness to how the believers confess, and then engage in a naughty dance with deafening screams and uncontrollable shaking. For Enn, this sleeping place becomes a new homeland.
The dance scenes that characterize the films truly have a transcendental effect. Seyfried and her partners in a significant Maidan give in to him entirely – body and soul, crumbling with obsessive directness, cruelty and self-sacrifice. It seems that some characters will come out of the screen, grab your eyes and pull you along with them.
Music also creates a special magic. Varto clarify for those who are wary of the musical genre: this is a film with songs, and not a classic musical. Compositions of the most folk, chimerical and haunting are traditional Shaker spirituals, as Daniel Bloomberg has masterfully reinterpreted. One or two hymns from Wyconanne Seyfried with her “angelic” voice truly remind one of Disney (who might have flashbacks from Mamma Mia!), but at the same time these scenes themselves become the most powerful strіchtsi.
Never before Enn gets to know her future boyfriend – a thoughtful farrier (Christopher Abbott), as savvy and invincible as her father. Vaughn is born into four new children, but all of them die, leaving her with a broken heart and the darkest period in her life. Only faith helps her to rise from this point and achieve a kind of holiness.
Then Anne, together with her followers, travels to America to find new followers. On the screen we can see how she is constantly expanding her faith and finding more fans in what is a historic hour for Britain and the world.
This line will undoubtedly divide the audience, and it will be important to see how the institutions that award film awards react to it. “Brutalist”, despite its specificity, was satisfied with the traditional Oscar-winner – the classically inspired anthem of the “great man”. “Ann Li’s Commandment” is a significantly strange and complex film, with experiments in magical realism, disturbing dance scenes and a focus on iconic women’s positions. The performance, the music, the camera work, the costumes and the artistic design deserve our utmost respect. And, of course, Amanda Seyfried is an actor who has always been strong, but she herself is taking on a leading role on the big screen, entirely suited to her scale. Regardless of what happens, “The Commandment of Anne Li” can now be called a release that will immediately reap the Oscar race in 2026.
