The Woman Who Dreamed

Dreams fuse with reality in this idiosyncratic relationship drama, the twist being that they are clearly allied to feminine and masculine ways of perceiving reality. Anna recounts her dreams to her work-obsessed husband. During a murder trial, at which the husband is the defence lawyer, a dream prophesies the predisposition of a journalist. As the couple drift apart - he feeling caged by her visions, she by his poor reception of them - so the value and significance of the dreams change. Anna is associated with movement and transition: with roads, water (some immaculate images of flooded floors), thresholds and windows. He is interior, courtroom-defined and rational. But his world is also disturbed by a terrorist organisation which publicly broadcasts Brahms from concealed speakers. In the process, the film becomes as much about exploring cinematic manipulation of emotion and meaning, as it is about the ceaseless negotiation of contemporary relationships and love's fluid role within them.