Angel

Taking his cues from the glory days of vintage Hollywood melodrama, François Ozon has created a sumptuous feast of period camp in his tale of the rise and fall of an impetuous romantic novelist in the early 20th century. After having her first book published while still at school, Angel Deverell is shot to fame as the hottest young talent around. But with fortune, of course, comes heartache, and it is not long before the cracks begin to appear in her fantasy world.

With its often affected performance styles (particularly from the divine Romola Garai in the title role) and a host of shrewd visual gimmicks, Angel's world is one of high artifice and extreme emotion that is distinctly queer in its execution, if not always in content. Yet underneath the excess, lies an unanticipated depth of character, and a sly critique on the fleeting nature of fame and success.

Michael Blyth