December 18, 2006
I recently saw this movie I'd heard so much talk over, Loving Annabelle written and directed by Katherine Brooks. For those who haven't seen it and don't like being told what happens, don't read this.
The story revolves around Annabelle Tillman (played by Erin Kelly), a head strong, free spirited, rebellious teen who pursues her teacher Simone Bradley (played by Diane Gaidry). Annabelle's a senator's daughter who can't seem to stay out of trouble. She's been sent to a girls Catholic school as a last resort before possibly ending up in military school. Here she meets Ms. Bradley and the two start forming a bond.
Annabelle's aggressive and relentless in her pursuit of Simone. She knows what she wants and sees no wrong in it. On the other hand, Simone struggles with falling for Annabelle and keeping her at arm's length. There's a lot of intense eye contact between the two and you certainly feel the attraction for one another as well as Simone's reluctance. Annabelle pushes Simone out of this "comfort zone" she'd created for herself...even though it wasn't that comfortable to begin with.
She'd been seeing and pretending to like this man, but the only person she desperately wanted to fool was herself. Does that mean Simone's uncomfortable with her sexuality? Quite possibly. Even so, I thought this whole charade was in reaction to the loss/death of her girlfriend (even though they never call her that) a few years before. You can make up your own mind as to why, but to me it feels like a rejection of herself based on her past experience. If she denies this part of herself, then she's "safe". Simone's just going through the motions with this man and there's no way she's going to get hurt in this relationship. People do stupid things when dealing with tradegy.
However, there comes a point when Simone can't deny her feelings anymore and surrenders to Annabelle in a passionate love scene. The movie ends the way it's supposed to end. Of course you'd want a happy ending (that's what alternate endings are for), but the fact is it's sort of illegal for teachers to sleep with their students.
Loving Annabelle's a good movie. Even though you know a teacher becoming involved with a student is wrong, there's something about the way it's presented that you end up rooting for them. Annabelle seems wise beyond her teen status. Never really portrayed as a child, she's the one doing all the chasing and Simone's the one fighting it away. Maybe it's all that. Plus, she's a senior and they get together almost at the end of the school year, so she's practically 18 anyway :P
Also, in the mist of this complicated relationship, the movie just seems calm to me. I don't know if I can explain that. The movie has these still moments, be it outside or in a building that are, peaceful and beautiful. All in all, I think it was well made, a great movie and definitely worth checking out.
IMDB: Loving Annabelle
Myspace: Loving Annabelle
Shy...What?
Katherine Brooks ought to release this as a book, because I would *love* to see not only what happens after the end credits roll, but also Simone's backstory, because I think she was supposed to be a bit of a rebel once Amanda came onto the scene.
It would be interesting to see Simone's backstory. All you know is that she's not close to her parents and there's major guilt there. Do they not accept Simone for who she is? Does it all tie into Amanda and her death? I think it all plays a part in shaping Simone's reality. It's like you said, she has no outlet and ends up trying to be something she's not.
And it's not just her parents. What part does her aunt, Mother Imaculata, play? It seems Simone is resentful or can't stand her. She's definitely an over-bearing force in her life. Ahhhh, Catholics and guilt go together like peanut butter and jelly :P Just kidding...but not really :)
With the ending, you are left wondering what happened next, but I think it ended appropriately. You can make up your own story as to what happened afterwards. Although I did like the alternate ending too.
Sure Clay, no problem. :) Where do live that the dvd didn't have the alternate ending?
Well the alternate ending starts off with Annabelle driving down the highway. It's the same route you see her and Simone take when they go to the beach house. Annabelle stops at a gas station, gets a bottle of water and a snack. While she picks up a lighter, she looks over at the newspaper. She picks up the paper and reads the front page. It says "No Charges To Be Files In Teacher Student Sex Scandal". She smiles. Then cut back to more driving and smiling until she reaches the beach. She get out of the car and walks down this long staircase to Simone's house. All along in this ending the song she sang at the dance is playing in the background. So, they end up together in the end even though you don't see Simone.
A nicer ending to the movie. :) In one of the blogs on the myspace page, Katherine explains that she wished she could've shot more of the ending. What was supposed to happen was Annabelle calling her mother and explaining that she's in love with Simone. Simone gets released, but with the condition that Annabelle doesn't see her again until she's 18 (which her bday was like in 2 weeks anyway). So we just got to see the trail end of it all. Still good though.
yes I think simone an mother imaculatas relationship. annabelel is new student.
annabelle love mrs simonemrs simone look paty annabelle
annabbelle composition music love mrs simone.
simone kiss annabelle
is beautiful muve romantic
bueno yo nunca vi esta pelicula por tv
pero sin annabelle l es hija de una senadora. su madre la lleva a una escuela catolica donde esta puras mujeres.
annabellle conoce a la senora simone que es su profesora.
simone tenia otra amante.
cuando simone s ela lleva a la playa casa a annabelel simone le toma una foto a annabelle
luego annabelle lee la carta que es de simone
simone se molesta por tocar sus cosas
luego kat le dice a annabelle . si va a ir al baile
que la profesora simone va a ir y annabelle le dice a kat no me molestes no comentes . y kat dice
wow y annabelel la empuja, y kat le pega despues entra mrs simone a separarlas .
mirs simone dice a annabella
annabelle espera .
annabelle le dice a suteacher no me toques. y simone dice dejame verte luego se voltea annabelle y simone le mira el cabello
simone guarda su secreto.
despues cuando estan todos en la ffiesta annabelle ve a su profe con un hombre bailando.
annabelel se pone celoza sale a fumar
luego el hermano de kat le dice tienes fuego. ella dice si y le pregunta tu eres ehrmano de kat el dice si.
despues anabelle va a su cuarto a sacar una cancion que le compone a su simone.
simone la mira cantae. despues simone da la vuelta y cuando esta lloviendo
annabelle sale y al mira y luego simone besa a annabelle.
si pues pero que bueno que es una esena no es real. pero suzy sabes que me dio colera deque kat se acerca ala madre imaculada a decirle que esta preocupada por la mrs simone y annabelle kat es una perra si no hubiera dicho nada nada hbiera pasado la madre imaclada entro al cuarto de simone la vio con annabele ,
pero annabelle no tubo la culpa d e enamorarse de simone que pena que la arrestaron a somone my boyfriends say wow hot kiis one student one teacher ja pero kat es una perra
kat muerete porque chismoceas ala madre imaculada annabelle no tubo la culpa de e namorarse de su profesora y
simone no tubo culpa de besarce con annabelle odio a kat maldita
si pues amiga anie annabelle no tubo culpa de enamorarse de simone y simone no tubo culpa de besarce con annabelle.
ellas dos gurdaron su secretos . eso pas a pero en la vida real si hay lesbianas que se aman.
pero como tu dicces my friends kat es bien chismosa ella no hubiera dicho nada ala madre imaculada. pero lo dijo y la madre imaculada.
se entero que la profesora estubo con annabelle asi es la pelicula
good job simone and annabelle your kiss wow annabelle and simone look and smell
La cosa es que Kat estaba celosa de Annabelle. A ella le gustaba ya y cuando Annabelle la rechaza lo unico que parece querer es vengarse. Por eso habla con Madre Immaculata. El personaje de Kat es el tipo de persona que hacen las cosas antes de pensar. Es impulsiva y viendo su reaccion al final, de seguro no creia que arrestarian a Simone. Es una pena, pero asi es la vida. Aunque un final feliz hubiese sido bueno, este final es mas real y por eso me gusto.
la verdad es que es una pelicula que he podido ver mas de quince veces.... las miradas de annabell hacia simone son increiblemente intensas, y creo que son de las cosas mas importantes y esenciales en el desarrollo de la historia. Por otro lado creo que quedan muchos huecos sin resolver que sinceramente no creo que tengan tanta importancia como la que le damos los amantes de esta peli.
he leido bastantes comentarios acerca de la muerte de amanda y en mi opinion creo que cuando simone le dice a annabell que amanda murio hace unos años " yo lo entendi como murio para ella, no literalmente" creo que en esa escena simone no quiere que annabell sepa que ella tambien es lesviana y es una manera de evitar el tema, simplemente creo que amanda dejó a simone y ella no lo ha superado.
Esto es solo mi opinion!
si alguien lee esto me gustaria que me recomendase peliculas parecidas a esta, y si quereis ver alguna vosotros, yo solo os puedo recomendar lost and delirious.
saludos
Bueno Sinea, estoy contigo en que al principio Simone no quiere revelarse hacia Annabelle. Ella parece estar bastante insegura de ella misma y trata de rechazar/esconderse saliendo con un hombre.
Con el tema de Amanda, pues veo tu punto de vista y hace sentido. Aun asi entiendo que el final de Amanda fue ella quitandose la vida. Por lo menos yo infiero eso de la nota que dejo. Tambien en una entrevista recuerdo que Brooks se refirio a Amanda como la novia muerta.
Vi Lost and Delirious...hace mucho tiempo atras. Pero recomendar peliculas asi medias tragicas, pues no me viene nada a la mente. Hay 2 que han pasado mucho por cable con tema gay, pero son mas de comedia romanticas. "Imagine Me and You" y "Saving Face".
I agree this movie rocks, but been looking online and finding scenes that arent on my copy of the DVD (US) or the added materials/deleted scenes. What part is it when Annabelle in a white shirt takes a storming Simone into her arms and puts both her hands on the back of her head? This movie is becoming my obsession :)
Hello!
First of all I will tell you that I am from Norway, and my english is not perfekt:) But I`ll try my best to make you understand me.
I Love love love the movie. Its beautiful and tutching! I wounder-- for how long does Simone have to be in prison in Amerika? (In Norway the laws are very low, for a rape you can get only one year, etc) Because--In my head I think that they will still meet eachother after a long While, Annabelle is going to wait for Simone. I bet! Ah, so romantic! The whole story is wounderful. And it seems so real between the two actress. Even thougt they both say that they are straight in real life I don`t belive it;) Haha.
Dimitra :)
Well, actual laws on this sort of crime, I don't know much about. As far as the movie goes, well, it was said that Simone didn't spend that much time in jail. You see that in the alternate ending....but Katherine Brooks discussed that what she wanted to show was that Annabelle talks to her mother and tells her how much she loves Simone. Her mother being a Senator uses her connections to get her out of jail with the condition that they don't see each other until Annabelle turns 18. And in the alternate ending you see Annabeel driving to the beach house...so you know they're together again.
... And the whole of the Loving Annabelle following can live happily and safe in that knowledge! Good to see I'm not the only one who is addicted haha. The ending bothered me for a very long time! Thanks for your info.
Yes, the alternate ending is also good. I get sutch a peaceful feeling knowing they got together in the end. It melts my heart, and I just have to smile when I think about them.. so Hanna-- you`re absolotly not the only one who is addicted to this movie:D I just cant wait till the movie`s in my home in about a week..;) I would by the way have done the exact same thing as Simone I think, if it were love I mean:) Ah, so nice and romantic..:)
Yes-- of course. But she isn`t in jail for a lifetime I hope, and then I think that they will meet eachother no matter what in the future some time:) Alternate ending or not, I think that they meet again. But.. who knows... I like both of the endings, in two different ways
I agree:)
Good night... it`s one three a clock in the night in Norway. Bed time now! I guess I will write her from a time to anthother in the future:)
Good movie. Haven't seen it in a while, maybe it's time for a viewing.
"...the wait was worth it"....I guess I just assume that it's been out everywhere by now. :)
when i said it was worth the wait i meant the love scene in the film, they build it up and it happens when it should xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
i love thisw moviee..
i watched it online but the end didnt load! pissed....
i wish they would of stayed together it was a great movie...anybody know of anyother good lesbian movies?
Other good movies...well, there's Tipping The Velvet, Fingersmith, Better Than Chocolate, Aimee & Jaguar, D.E.B.S., Lost and Delirious, Boys Don't Cry, But I'm A Cheerleader, The Gymnast, Imagine Me & You...