Sylvia

About this Film

The setting is perhaps familiar, at least in a primeval sense. A lush green forest stands before us. Its trees seem to be in the prime of their lives, rich and dark green in leaf. The earth seems moist and cool, as if after a summer rain, and all is budding and fertile. A stand of granite is nearby, an ominous mountain of hard stone, reminding us that in life not all is soft and welcoming.

Yet against that harsh reality there is placed, thanks to the magic of movies, a softness, let us even say a tenderness, that is startling in its simple purity. Sylvia (which means "forest" in Latin) is walking in the woods. She is a nymph, alive with her nudity, unashamed and elegant in the way she lives at one with the earth. And when her naked beauty catches our eyes, it is our breath that gets taken away, so stunned are we at her innocent wonder.

Watch this movie. It will truly do your soul good. The title is not "Tenderness" for no reason. Indeed, there is such tenderness in this moving picture that you will feel it deep in your muscles. Sylvia has given us a visual and emotional delight, and we accept it and let is wash through us, like a cleansing emotion. Thank you, Sylvia. Thank you, FEMJOY. After watching a movie like this, you feel just a little more alive to the tenderness of things.