Starring: Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, Dakota Johnson, Ed Harris, Peter Sarsgaard, Dagmara Dominczyk, Paul Mescal, Jack Farthing, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Panos Koronis, Alexandros Mylonas, Alba Rohrwacher, Nikos Poursanidis
Distributor: Netflix
Runtime: 121 mins. Reviewed in Dec 2021
Reviewer: Fr Peter Malone msc
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Academic Leda goes on vacation to a Greek resort, where with the time to relax, reflect and remember she begins to confront the troubles of her past.
As the final credits roll, we might be asking who, out of the many daughters, is the lost daughter of the title. Is it all of them? Some of them? All, particularly by the end, the central character, Leda herself?
Maggie Gyllenhaal has proven herself in acting. This is her first film as director and she has written the screenplay as well, adapting a novel by Eleanor Ferante. The film has many award nominations and won for best screenplay in Venice 2021.
This is a film one has to stay with, patiently sharing the experiences of Leda (Colman), wondering about her, who she really is, what her life has been, and gradual revelations – and, an increasing number of flashbacks to her early life, especially scenes with her two daughters as little children. This reviewer found it easy to move into the film because of the presence of Colman and her performance. (Colman has had a strong British career, but came to prominence with her role as Queen Elizabeth II in the TV series The Crown and her Oscar for her role as Queen Anne, in the 2018 movie The Favourite.)
The audience arrives at a small Greek resort with Leda, where settles into her pleasant apartment, helped by expatriate at Lyle (Harris). She goes to the beach. She swims. She makes notes. She goes for walks. And back to the apartment. A quiet holiday.
But then an extended family, Americans and Greeks, arrive and rather take over the small beach. Leda observes, is a touch nasty in refusing to move spot on the beach for the family – later apologising. She has some conversations, especially with Callie (Dominczyk), who is 42 and pregnant for the first time. And she observes Nina (Johnson), with her young, handsome and tough Greek husband and little daughter. Leda is fascinated by the daughter, the mother and daughter relationship, the daughter and her little doll. When the little girl goes missing, it is Leda who finds her and restores her to the gratitude of the family – but, for some reason, takes possession of the doll, hiding it, later cleaning it, later buying clothes for it, dressing it.
And, as she observes, her mind goes back. Her younger self is played by Buckley, in another fine performance. She remembers her two daughters, her relationship with her husband, her academic and distinguished career in Italian literature, working as a translator, and analysis of the poetry of WH Auden. She is easily irritated by her daughters but then makes up. And there are dolls. An extended flashback takes her to an invitation to a conference, discovering a Professor Peter Sarsgaard, who has read her work and appreciated her insights into the poetry, praising them during his lecture, inviting her to sit next to him at the dinner – and, as we anticipated, an affair but with drastic consequences.
The screenplay consists of a number of episodes, Lyle in conversation with Leda, cooking a meal, dancing with her. She has a conversation with the Irish Will (Mescal) who works on the island during vacations – but who has a secret with Nina. She goes to the cinema and is angry with the noisy young men who enjoy disturbing the audience.
There is some dramatic climax, especially with Nina, with the doll, Leda ending her holiday but disturbed, some reckless driving, lying on the beach (which is how the film opened). It is not all tragic – but, we are left with the portrait of Leda, liking her, sometimes disliking her, definitely not always approving, but wondering whether this holiday, this opportunity for memories and reflection, is something of a catharsis for her – and a phone call with one of her daughters. Her future?
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