The Gold Diggers

It's all happening in this feminist experiment: frantic chases, gold rushes, horseback escapes, ballroom dances. But this is no action movie, for its heart is in its mouth, and the value of each character and scene is measured in metaphors. Sadly, Potter's cyclical, stylised, surreal film about a quest for knowledge, power and much more, illustrates nothing better than the difficulties inherent in this kind of undertaking. Hers is a cryptic world of shadows and ciphers, with meanings that are too elusive (or didactic) to command attention or encourage interest; and it is ironic that the best made point is achieved off-camera (by the assembly of an all-women crew to make the film).