Maya Dardel, a poet and novelist of a certain age, living in seclusion in the Californian mountains, decides she that she is no longer able to write the literature and poetry which made her famous so she will kill herself. She advertises for a young male poet who will inherit her home, land, all of her possessions and the right to continue to publish and publicise her work. Her interview techniques are not straight from the Recruitment and Selection Handbook, shall we say. She judges the candidates both by their writing and by their ability to satisfy her sexually. Two emerge on the short leet and she taunts and teases them until one remains.
Co-written and directed by Magdalena Zyzak and Zachary Cotter, Maya Dardel is a film about power and the abuse of power, about ageing and the loss of prowess, about fear and nostalgia. Lena Olin sizzles in the title role and is ably supported by Nathan Keyes, Alexander Koch and a kooky Rosanna Arquette.
The film was premiered at SXSW in Austin Texas under its original title, A Critically Endangered Species, in March 2017.
See it:
Friday, 23rd June, 2035, Cineworld
Saturday, 24th June, 2045, Vue Omni 12
Mary is a longstanding writer with publications in The Scotsman and a number of independent travel logs and blogs. She has written professionally as part of her 40 year career in education and for pleasure.
