Camila

Described by the director as 'a passionate woman's intellectual and sexual seduction of a man she found morally desirable', this is the true story of the doomed amours of a young socialite from the beau monde of Buenos Aires and her Jesuit priest. The historical background (the Rosas dictatorship, 1847) is left somewhat sketchy, and Bemberg, a 62-year-old feminist who made her first film at 58, evidences an over-fondness for the Laura Ashley school of costume drama, all starched petticoats and soft-focus cinematography. But, presided over by an unholy trinity of Church, State and family, Susu Pecoraro as Camila conducts her romance with proper abandon and a vibrant intelligence that burns bright and true amid the frilly period fashions.