ISOLDE
dir. Jytte Rex, 1989
92 min. Denmark.
In Danish with English subtitles.

Riffing on the classic tragedy of Tristan and Isolde, Rex takes what interests her and leaves what doesn’t, resituating the character of Isolde as a dissatisfied middle-aged spouse rediscovering her sexuality in 1980s Copenhagen. Rex’s omnivorous interest in literature, sculpture and dance means she takes what might have been a conventional “woman begins to mentally unravel” plotline and transforms it into a profoundly lyrical meditation on femininity, guilt and responsibility, as it’s revealed Isolde’s spurned husband has hired a young man to murder her. Rex’s use of achingly beautiful symmetry and ominously scored long camera takes anticipates the even more formally finessed MIRROR OF THE PLANETS that would come a few years later.