Issue:  Vol. 40 / No. 36 / 9 September 2010
 

Victorian desires

DVD

Print this Page
Send to a Friend
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on MySpace!

With its spooky take on desire and superstition among the Victorians, Affinity, based on Sarah Waters' 1999 novel. was the popular opening-night film at the 2008 SF LGBT Film Festival. Fans of the women-behind-bars genre will enjoy the plight of a well-intentioned if gullible upper-class young woman, just recovering from the death of an especially domineering father. Margaret (Anna Madely) decides to indulge her passion for "good works" by visiting a female medium, Selina (Zoe Tapper), imprisoned after a sˇance backfired, resulting in the death of another young woman. As Margaret battles her growing infatuation with Selina, she comes face-to-face with the nightmarish rules and sinister guards at Millbank, a women's prison worthy of Dickens.

Director Tim Fywell mixes passionate performances (especially from Tapper) with Masterpiece Theatre production values in a scary period piece with a hair-raising twist ending.

Bonus features: an extra scene, plus production interviews, including one with novelist Sarah Waters.


Follow The Bay Area Reporter
Newsletter logo
twitter logo
facebook logo