A young lady hurries down the street to a little cafe. She meets her future employee.
Everything is to the point. She will be their housekeeper.
The camera lingers on Sophie's face and what a peculiar face it is! Most wouldn't call it beautiful, but it is an arresting one - expresionless but for the eyes - there is worry somewhere in their depth.
One gets the idea that Sophie has got much to hide and the feeling grows on.
Yes, well into the mid-film the viewer is lulled into the peace and predictability of the family's countryside existence.
A large and well-proportioned house and grounds, a family of four and Sophie.
She cooks and cleans and does everything they ask. They feel grateful.
She has no friends, or relatives, no interests.
She has a secret. She cannot read and is desperate to hide it.
She meets the post office girl, and it is amazing how quickly they become friends.
They discover that they are the same and a strong bond is formed.
It is wonderfully surprising how Sophie's face and eyes can light up with a smile.
Their mutual care without words.
The post office girl is more free and seems to be a bad influence on Sophie.
Her employers are not happy about the girls' friendship and set boundaries, which the girls subsequently break.
Sophie is sacked and has to leave the house within a week.
Post office girl suggests they go back to the house to collect Sophie's things.
While the family are watching an opera broadcast, the girls start frolicking about the house and eventually get up to shooting the family.
How calm the girls are. They'd done it before in their past separate lives and got away with it. The double action had bonded them even more.
Understanding beyond words.
Care for each other.
They are sure they can go on.
As one sees, they don't.
The movie is quite long, nearly 2 hours, yet one doesn't notice the time. Half of the film is all peace and quiet drudgery, pretty country views, Sophie's forebearance. One feels for the girl.
Then there are the times when the two are together, like rays of sunshine upon cold water.
The director doesn't depict any character as either good or bad. The family seems idyllic at times, hypocritical at others, yet one knows next to nothing about them.
The girls seem nice and lonely, yet one realises their insensitiveness to social norms, and witnesses their rebellion.
In the end one is left none the wiser for the story, yet it is a story and impression that stays firmly imprinted on one's mind.
