Loving Annabelle

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Audience Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over Binding: DVD EAN: 0807839003093 Format: PAL Label: Tla Releasing Manufacturer: Tla Releasing Number Of Items: 1 Publisher: Tla Releasing Region Code: 2 Release Date: 2008-01-14 Running Time: 76 Studio: Tla Releasing
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Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: amazing Comment: seriously this is one of my favourite films i have ever seen. I fell in love with someone i shouldn't have which is perhaps why i love it so much. its so simple yet really really beautiful. its very well made and a perfect film for a night on the sofa cuddling up to your loved one. me and my girlfriend watched it together and both absolutely loved it. i definately suggest that you give it a watch!! Customer Rating: Summary: Watchable tale, though neither meaningful nor romantic Comment: "Loving Annabelle" is a passably-scripted and -acted tale of illicit passion at a Catholic boarding school, but one thing it is not, I have to say, contrary to other reviews, is a beautiful love story. The somewhat familiar story follows a teenager (Erin Kelly), the "Annabelle" of the title, who, having been expelled from a number of previous schools, winds up at the aforementioned Catholic institution and is immediately attracted to her English teacher, Simone Bradley (Diane Gaidry). Bored by her relationship with her nice but dull boyfriend, Simone is unwilling to make the commitment he is pushing for, and instead spends increasing amounts of time with the rebellious student, Annabelle. OK, so we've got a hot English teacher (check), we've got a rebellious teenager with stated lesbian tendencies (check) and the repressive yet charged atmosphere of an all-girls' Catholic boarding school, complete with uniforms, crucifixes, rosary beads and a swimming pool that appears to be lit up at night (lots of checks here). I think the set-up - not to mention the title of this flick - mean we can all see where this is going, right? Of course, Simone and Annabelle develop a relationship, one that is - it goes without saying - secret, forbidden and even illegal. Now, whilst I understand the appeal of themes of illicit passion in gay and lesbian interest films, there is something about "Loving Annabelle"'s plot and characterisation that does feel particularly calculated and gratuitous. I almost felt, as I sat down to watch the DVD, knowing full well the story involved Catholic schoolgirls and uniforms and all the rest, that there was something vaguely distasteful about the film, and something voyeuristic about me for watching it. I think that's where my problem with the idea of this being a "love story" begins, although not where it ends. Simone and Annabelle may have the hots for each other, but love is harder to believe. These characters don't know very much about each other, and whilst there might be a mutual attraction, there is not as far as I can see any deep connection between these two. The Annabelle character has been written as overly worldy-wise and perceptive, presumably so that her hookup with a teacher who must be at least twice her age is more palatable, but the bravado Annabelle displays would most likely only work on students of her own age. An adult some fifteen or more years' older as Simone is, would, I feel, recognise Annabelle's posturing as the misplaced arrogance of youth. Simone, for her part, appears weak and easily-led; she is with a man she patently has no real interest in and yet she struggles to end the relationship with him. Simone almost comes across as if she falls into an inappropriate relationship with a female student because she can't summon up the energy or bravery to hit a gay bar. Despite its lack of subtlety or real depth in plotting and characterisation, "Loving Annabelle" does get some things right. The cinematography is lush and vivid and generally very appealling for a film reportedly shot in a total of three weeks. The script hits the right note in a few places, and is notably on the money in the scene where Annabelle reveals to her roommates that she has slept with a woman; the responses vary from indifference to curiosity to sudden sexual interest in Annabelle herself, which is probably in the modern climate a more realistic range of reaction to confessions of lesbian experience than seen elsewhere (e.g. the mass hysteria that breaks out for dramatic purposes in the all-girls boarding school in "Lost and Delirious", though that is in many ways a superior film to this one). In addition, the crucial love scene itself is surprisingly well-done. As Annabelle and Simone grow closer, the film ambles around a bit, until it seems someone realised it needed to end, and gave it a rather half-hearted finale. I get the impression the filmmakers struggled to know how to bring the curtain down on this tale. All-in-all, "Loving Annabelle" is a reasonably watchable effort, although at times the overly-forced lesbian frission between teacher and pupil is a little embarrassing, even for a lesbian viewer. The film is not, however, for all the sighs, sunlight dappled across the screen, meaningful exchanged glances between female leads and so-on and so forth, very engaging, nor deep or meaningful, nor romantic. In the end, the calculatedly racy set-up of the central female pairing makes the film difficult to take seriously and tricky to take to heart. Customer Rating: Summary: Absolutely Amazing! Comment: I usually get so depressed with the standard of some of the lesbian movies out there in that they never seem to grab you and keep you glued....HOWEVER finally someone has nailed it and this film albeit shorter than the usual movie hits all the right marks...some scenes stop you mid sentence or mid sip of a drink in my instance...both characters are well constructed and teacher almost becomes student whilst the well rounded student teaches the teacher how to let go and be who she wants tobe...if you want a good lesbian movie collection this has to be at the very top of your list BUY BUY BUY! Customer Rating: Summary: Lovely Comment: I'm not usually one who goes for mushy love stories but this is an exception. I was cringing at the start but by the end I was gripped and could really sympathize with the characters. Excellent film! Customer Rating: Summary: Okay-ish Comment: Loving Annabelle has none of the hallmarks that go into making it into a classic, but I don't think it isn't worth a veiwing. There is a very workable and easily discoverable formula: it is a story of forbidden love between a female teacher and a a teenage female pupil. It is a good film to incorpoate the rule, rent it first. I always say this but the subject matter might make certain people especially teachers uncomfortable. For students it might make more sense I mean let's face it, who can say truthfully they haven't ever had the suspicion of a crush on one of their teachers? Loving Annabelle brings the idea of forbbiden love into a new catagory. Bridging a gap between straight and lesbian relationships by making the teacher (if she is anything but) bi. It is also a film that seems to me to extol the power of true love. Though things may not work out for Simone or Annabelle in the long term, their relationship seems to me to be more than a teenage fling and Annabelle psychologically certainly seems to be the type of girl who will wait for Simone to sort herself out. But rent it first because it wouldn't be the type of film a buyer would buy unless they had seen it first. More Reviews