Temenos

Brooding b/w landscapes make up much of the running time in this evocation of the lingering sense of history in a number of sacred geographical sites. The testimonies of various Marian visionaries are spoken in voice-over as the camera prowls through deep forest and across rugged mountain, while vocal performances at the extreme end of female expressiveness, from guttural howling to soaring soprano, provide an aural complement. It's all very vivid for a while, but not easy to discern just what director Danino is getting at. Encouraging to see the tradition of the artist's film still alive in Britain, but many will find this a tad impenetrable, despite its undeniably haunting quality.