| The Seasoning House (2012) |
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| Director: | Paul Hyett |
| Writers: | Paul Hyett, Conal Palmer, Helen Solomon, and Adrian Rigelsford |
| Starring: | Rosie Day, Kevin Howarth, and Sean Pertwee |
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The Plot: The Seasoning House is a war story of sorts, focusing on the events that transpire when a young deaf girl named Angel, who is ripped from her own home in Eastern Europe and taken to a brothel as a prisoner of war. It turns out that she is one of the luckiest girls to come through this brothel, as she is made to clean rooms, look after the girls, and keep hidden. This slavery turns out to be far better than what the other kidnapped girls receive as captures. Normally, most girls are chained to their bed and shot up with narcotics until they are submissive enough to be continually raped by random military personnel. Things are turned upside down for Angel, however, when she runs into Vanya, a young woman who also happens to be fluent in sign language. Finally having someone to speak with, Angel finds herself learning to disobey her rulers, but these are not men to be trifled with. |
| The Review |
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While The Seasoning House is most assuredly a stylish movie, one can’t help but think that it would be considered a bit more special if it were photographed in a more unique way. Especially during the outdoor war sequences which are briefly shown during the early moments of the movie. Granted, this is a film that tries to capture reality, but due to the main protagonist being deaf, it seems as if the film would be better served as a much more visual experience. One movie that certainly should be brought up during any discussion of this film would be Come and See. Both films focus on European wars and the trauma that is dealt upon young people who are caught in the midst of the chaos, but one film is obviously superior over the other. Come and See delivers the visual feast that forces the audience to step inside of its characters, while The Seasoning House instead keeps us at an arm’s distance. We know that this is a movie, and although it certainly has power, we aren’t in grave fear of what will happen next. Granted, The Seasoning House does feature some explicitly brutal violence, including a throat slashing that looks incredibly realistic, it could have been a bit more exhausting, something that one expects from a movie focusing on the horrors of war.
| The Conclusion |
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