Anna M.
In this film set in present-day Paris, the lead actress delivers a committed performance as the titular Anna M., a pathologically besotted woman who becomes fixated with the doctor who helps her recuperate from a broken leg she sustains during what appears to be a failed suicide attempt. The filmmakers never let pass an opportunity to make the audience squirm in anxiety and embarrassment for the young woman in this bleak delineation of the limitless capacity of the mind for self-deception.
Initially,
when we are shown that Anna lives with her mother we might suppose that
she
acts as her mother’s carer, on account of her appearing old enough to be out on her own. As the film progresses it appears more likely
that it is the daughter who requires her mother's aid. Allusions to events that prefigure those documented in the film
encourage us to speculate
as to the cause of the woman’s psychological difficulties. However, no
specifics are given and all we can ascertain, from a comment made by her mother,
is that she has a history of developing fixations.
The putative suicide attempt is unexpected, and all the more shocking for that.
This is one example of a series of unsettling developments that, taken one after another, make for a very uncomfortable viewing.
The soundtrack is occasionally uncomfortably loud, particularly when high-pitched rending
noises are used to emphasise the psychological discomfort experienced by the obsessed
woman. As in The Edge of Heaven, segments of the film are preceded by
a title that alerts us to the segment's theme. We therefore have chapters called illumination (when the woman
falls in love with the doctor), hope,
hate (the woman’s unrequited love
turns sour), and refuge (the woman seemingly finds solace).
In urban scenes, characters are often placed in environments whose structure exemplifies order and symmetry, such as when Anna M. is filmed from above while walking through her library workplace, or when she walks in front of her doctor’s residential building, the image of whose regular design fills every centimetre of the screen. We also are presented with several striking images of natural beauty, such as a field of tall grass shimmering in the wind, or the mountainous scenery near the film’s conclusion.
The role of prayer as petition to a religious figure of a higher power (in this case Jesus Christ) in Anna M.'s life is introduced initially by Anna M.’s
mother, who we see reading some kind of prayer to her daughter. One might conclude
that her mother uses the prayer to enhance her daughter’s capacity to cope with her
psychological unease, but the prayer's text is such that the role of prayer for good or bad in Anna M.'s life is unclear.
However, what is certain is that up until the point that the final
credits roll there is no
respite for the audience from images of Anna M.'s disturbing behaviour.