A SUDDEN GLIMPSE TO DEEPER THINGS

This documentary is about an obscure British artist Wilhelmina Barns-Graham who led an undramatic life and whose work was largely ignored during her lifetime.

Given this unpromising material the fact that this film is as absorbing as it is is down largely to the director and narrator, Mark Cousins.  He is an experienced documentary-maker and he uses a variety of methods, including bringing himself into the film, to bring it to life.  At one point he imagines a conversation between the young Wilhelmina and an older version.

It's an idiosyncratic film which jumps around in an engaging way.  Refreshingly for a film of this type, there are no 'talking heads'.

The title is more or less how Wilhelmina herself described her experience on a Swiss glacier in mid-life.  I don't know whether this reflects more on me or on the film but I came out at the end not much wiser as to how this encounter transformed her art.  But I did enjoy what I saw of her paintings.  

RATING: ✓ If You've Nothing Better To Do