Netherlands / 2018 / 87mins / English / Chinese & Partially English subtitles

The Beast in the Jungle is a melancholy contemplation on the elapse of time mixes costume drama with dance. Based on the homonymous novella by Henry James written in 1903, director Clara van Gool places dance at the center of her interpretation of James’s novel. The two protagonists, John Marcher (Dane Jeremy Hurst, former Rambert Dance Company dancer) and May Bartram (Sarah Reynolds, former Nederlands Dans Theater dancer) chase each other throughout the film and are caught up in a whirlwind of impossible love. John is obsessed with his impending fate, like a “beast in the jungle”. It is only upon May’s death that he realises the catastrophe waiting to happen was his own inability to love.

The Beast in the Jungle is the first feature-length dance film by the director, her past notable work includes successful adaptations of dance performances for the screen: Enter Achilles (1996), by the English physicaltheatre DV8.