Marguerite's unspeakable voice is counterpointed by cinematographer Glynn Speeckaert's exquisitely composed tableaux. And the denouement yields more than one surprise.

Frot gives Marguerite a grandeur, but also an anxious, lost quality, emphasised by Glynn Speeckaert's cinematography with its heavy shadows and tendency to isolate Frot in the middle of the wide screen.

It's a tale of great sadness -- about somebody enchanted by a world she's forever barred from entering.

Filled with splendid musical talent, stirring performances, and lovely period detail, Giannoli's film can both seize and lose your attention.