The movie features a young woman capable of stopping machinery, which includes train and car engines, clocks, watches, and so on. It's got a great central premise but the execution isn't all that good : much of it feels tepid and mundane rather than sparkling. There's also a large question left unanswered, to wit, why didn't the young woman notice or examine her own strange superpower earlier on in life ? One would suppose that even the dimmest of souls, living in the most remote and rural of villages, would notice a weird abundance of mechanical failures. Besides, we're not talking anno 1360 or 1720 ; we're talking the middle of the 20th century, just after a World War which involved a considerable amount of vehicles, machines and devices.
There's some kind of allegory here, I suppose, but its exact nature is unclear. Is this the old tale about villagers being closer to nature than city folk ? ("You may need that big fancy watch on your wrist, son, but I can tell the hour by listening to the song of the blackbird.") Or is this the equally old tale about women being closer to nature than men ? Or is the movie suggesting that unmarried girls are loose cannons that need to be tied down securely by marriage vows, as quickly as possible ? I leave it to you, dear reader, to try and work out your own interpretation.
In conclusion : a watchable, vaguely enjoyable fantasy/comedy film with a nice joke here and there, but nothing to stop the presses about.
There's some kind of allegory here, I suppose, but its exact nature is unclear. Is this the old tale about villagers being closer to nature than city folk ? ("You may need that big fancy watch on your wrist, son, but I can tell the hour by listening to the song of the blackbird.") Or is this the equally old tale about women being closer to nature than men ? Or is the movie suggesting that unmarried girls are loose cannons that need to be tied down securely by marriage vows, as quickly as possible ? I leave it to you, dear reader, to try and work out your own interpretation.
In conclusion : a watchable, vaguely enjoyable fantasy/comedy film with a nice joke here and there, but nothing to stop the presses about.