JinRoz For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

Stellead Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

elcoat Still being ... at the age of 67 ... more than twice the age of my second (now ex-)wife, I can empathize with the film showcasing a man's attraction to young beauty, but there is a Dracula aura about this: a much older artist preying on the beauty of a young to the point of underage girl for his artistic renewal ... for his own rejuvenation ... to reproduce her only in stone ... but not to really, lovingly reproduce her with a baby.Also, I had remembered ... erroneously, apparently ... him re-seducing her mother as well, who was being ignored, if not discarded, by her profession-obsessed French husband.

tensaip PAUL IS STILL BLIND AT THE END.Many viewers fail to realize this, and thus come to erroneous conclusions concerning the final scenes. Paul's removal of the smoked glasses as he examines the leaf is meant to symbolize that he has learned to "see" the world through his sense of touch and no longer feels "blind" as an artist. This is why he pays no attention to Laura as she watches him play in the fountain. His eyes cannot see her. Laura for her part perceives that Paul no longer needs her to serve as his muse, so she leaves.All that aside of Hamilton's 3 plot structured films, LAURA is his best effort. Each frame of film has delicately lit mies-en-scene and purposely resembles impressionist paintings -- particularly those of Degas. This is not an "actor-oriented" movie. It's a "picture-oriented" movie. Hamilton has meticulously choreographed and rehearsed every human movement he captured on this film. All movie-acting should be like this. If I feel the finished product is what the director intended it to be, I give a film a high rating whether I personally enjoyed the viewing experience or not. Regarding LAURA I enjoyed the viewing of it but the score makes me wretch. I despise every note. Patrick Juvet must have become tone deaf by the time he scored it.

howardbabcom I have read several technical critiques of this movie over the years, but it they all miss the mark for me, because this film provides something that very few films ever do - a gentle, poignant and tranquil approach into a world where the artistic, feminine and erotic merge in a manner that is generally well conceived and often breathtakingly beautiful.David Hamilton is first and foremost a fine art photographer, and whilst there may be cinematic errors here, the visual content of the film allows one to pause and consider the wonder of the female form. I am delighted to own a copy of this visual hymn to some of the most delightful aspects of human life.Howard Nowlan Fine Art Photographer, Cornwall, UK.

L. Denis Brown David Hamilton established his name as a fashion photographer through the still, dreamy soft focus images of young girls, usually portrayed in muted colours, for which he has become famous. At some point he appears to have decided that this experience was all he needed to produce great movies, and he started to direct films that characteristically show all the same features as his fashion images. Unfortunately these were not generally well received and some critics have suggested that he has only a rudimentary appreciation of how to blend successive still images into an ongoing movie sequence. Personally I greatly enjoy his still fashion photography and this enjoyment is sufficient for me to also appreciate his films - overlooking any faults in their dynamics. His best known film is probably "Bilitis", a study of a young girl coming of age, but my preference is for "Laura", a film about a young girl modeling for a sculptor who is blinded in a fire. We can, I hope, ignore comments on the IMDb database which suggest that there is something sinister in Hamilton's preference for models and actresses who appear very young. In his films his objective is to create a story which has a strong emotional appeal but which is also visually beautiful to watch. My judgment is that Laura achieves this objective superbly. One sequence which haunts my memory as much as any other film sequence I have ever seen; comes towards the end of this film. It shows the sculptor, nearly blinded by the fire, returning to his almost finished sculpture whilst he explores the torso of his model with an extended finger trying to recreate in his mind the beauty that he can no longer see.My recommendation would be to watch this film, which is not readily obtainable today, as soon as any opportunity arises.POSTSCRIPT - added January 2005This film has - to my surprise - now been released as a DVD. If these various very different assessments intrigue you in any way, why not buy a copy and add your comments to those already here?