The first documentary in 72 years to ever win the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival’s Crystal Globe. Mark Cousins’ (The Story of Film, My Name is Alfred Hitchcock) latest documentary feature is a phenomenal cinematic portrait of the 20th century British painter Wilhelmina Barns-Graham.
Born with the gift of synaesthesia – associating letters, names and people with particular colours – Barns-Graham, or Willie as she was known, was a member of the St Ives circle of modernist artists who were active in the post-war era. In 1949, aged 36, she scaled a Swiss glacier, where she experienced an aesthetic and spiritual breakthrough which transformed her vision. Cousins reenacts this climb, and traces its resonance throughout the rest of her prolific life and career.
Willie’s inner thoughts, drawn from her private notebooks, are voiced by Tilda Swinton, a longtime fan of Barns-Graham’s art while Cousins uses his distinctive storytelling style to paint a unique portrait of Willie’s imagination.
A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things is both the story of a remarkable artist, and a wider exploration of themes of gender, neurodiversity, climate change, and the nature of creativity from youth to old age. Two decades after her death in 2004, the film represents a major reassessment of Barns-Graham’s life and work, and her place in 20th century British art.
