Loving Annabelle

Loving Annabelle
Loving Annabelle
	Movie poster
Directed by	Katherine Brooks
Written by	Katherine Brooks; Olivia Bohnhoff; Karen Klopfenstein; Jennifer Young
Produced by	Katherine Brooks; Gregory Carroll
Starring	Diane Gaidry; Erin Kelly
Cinematography	Cynthia Pusheck
Edited by	Lori Ball
Music by	Aurah
Production; company	Divine Light Pictures
Distributed by	Wolfe Releasing (USA)
Release dates	March 8, 2006 (Australia); March 10, 2006 (USA); May 20, 2006 (Canada);
Running time	76 minutes
Country	Template:Film US
Language	English
Budget	$900,000 (estimated)
Box office	$4,200,000 (Worldwide)

Loving Annabelle is a 2006 film directed by Katherine Brooks. Based on Mädchen in Uniform, it tells the story of a boarding school student who falls in love with her teacher. It was filmed at Marymount High School in Los Angeles.

Cast

Erin Kelly as Annabelle Tillman
Diane Gaidry as Simone Bradley
Laura Breckenridge as Colins
Michelle Horn as Kristen
Gustine Fudickar as Kat Pegrum
Ilene Graff as Mother Immaculata
Markus Flanagan as Michael
Karen Teliha as Sister Claire
Leslie Andrews (as Lesli Andrews) as Martha

Plot

Annabelle Tillman, the daughter of a senator, is sent to a Catholic boarding school after having been expelled from two of her previous schools. She is placed in the dorm under the supervision of Miss Simone Bradley, a poetry teacher at the school. Her fellow dorm mates are Kristen, Cat, Collins and a porcupine named Prissy.

Annabelle is free spirited, defines her own rules and lives by them. Simone is her antithesis. She is more restrained; abides by the prescribed conventions of society and religion. Her subtle defiant streak surfaces occasionally - when she allows the girls to order pizza sometimes, lets a pet porcupine live in the hostel and lights up a cigarette on Annabelle’s insistence.

Annabelle gets into trouble with the headmistress - Mother Immaculata for audaciously flaunting her Buddhist prayer beads but after initial resistance Simone manages to convince her to comply with the school regulations. Simone also realizes that Annabelle is not just obstinate but mature and sensitive. A deep bond develops between the two particularly when they spend time at Simone’s beach house during spring break.

Simone fights a hard emotional and ethical battle with herself but is eventually overpowered by Annabelle’s disarming smile and relentless pursuit. The agony of denying her true feelings is noticeable on Simone’s face during the annual school dance when she is seen smiling with her lips and crying with her eyes at the same time. When Annabelle sings the song 'In the space between what's wrong and right; you'll find me waiting for you...', Simone melts and kisses Annabelle. They end up sleeping together.

The next morning Mother Immaculata walks in on them getting dressed and demands to see Simone in her office immediately. On being questioned if she did the right thing Simone admits that she loves Annabelle.

The government officials arrest Simone and just as she is leaving Annabelle places her most prized possession - the Buddhist prayer beads in her hands. Annabelle tearfully looks at her photos taken by Simone at the beach house while Simone is being driven away. The film does not have a happy ending. It leaves the viewers with the following quote 'For one human being to love another; that is perhaps the most difficult of all our tasks…the work for which all other work is but preparation.'

Alternate ending

The DVD release contain an alternate ending in which Annabelle can be seen driving to an unknown destination. She stops off at a road-side store and picks up the latest copy of the newspaper. The headline is that no charges have been brought on the teacher in the lesbian sex scandal at a school. Annabelle is then seen parking on the side of the road before going down towards Miss Bradley's beach house.