Agatha and the Limitless Readings

Marguerite Duras's 1981 French film follows a brother and sister meeting at an empty hotel by the sea. They talk about their past relationship; they know they must part and the conversation turns around that. The form separates text from image. Voices speak while there is often nobody on screen; empty rooms, corridors and a winter sea appear. There is a deliberate break between what is said and what is shown. Duras was known as a writer and used the same method in her films; the narrative is closer to a text being read than to cinema. Bulle Ogier and Yann Andrea speak the voices. It runs under ninety minutes with almost no movement. Who it's for: those who like experimental French cinema and Duras's work. Who it's not for: viewers troubled by a narrative about a sexual relationship between siblings; the film places it at the centre and offers no narrative cinema.