Amanda Seyfried stars in Atom Egoyan’s Seven Veils as Jeanine, a director who has been asked to reproduce a production of Salome which was originally created and produced by her recently deceased mentor. As we watch her communicate her ideas for the project, we become increasingly aware that it is tied to her life more personally than we had originally thought. Over the course of the rehearsals, Jeanine works out her own trauma through the characters, dialogue, and music of the play.
Seyfried carries all the emotions that Jeanine is going through in this film really well: the excitement from getting a chance to direct the play, steadfastness as she fights for her ideas to be heard, sadness as she relives her painful childhood memories, and experiences new ones in adulthood.
Writers have a joke about how we deal with issues through our characters rather than going to therapy, and Salome is that for Jeanine, but times a thousand. Her personal experiences with her old mentor, her parents, and her (kind of ex-) husband make her directing style almost too passionate. Yet, by the end of the film, it seems like the play has done its job for her. She comes to certain resolutions and seems more at peace. The play does seem to parallel her life and the music used in the film lets us know that Jeanine is Salome. Yes, this play is about her (does anyone seen that Euphoria reference?)
Seven Veils invites you to watch an artist pour their soul into their work as it paints a portrait of the blood, sweat and tears that goes into creating art.
Very fitting.
Seven Veils is now playing at TIFF ’23. For more information, click here.
