The Seventh veil

After a car accident Francesca Cunningham (Ann Todd), a gifted pianist, falls into a comatose state, which baffles her doctors. An intuitive psychiatrist puts her under hypnosis in order to unravel the origins of her mental torment and heal her trauma. Under hypnosis (and henceforth told in flashback), Cunningham regales the doctor with tales of her tumultuous past: caning at school, death of her parents, and being made the ward of her very wealthy but emotionally crippled second cousin Nicholas (James Mason). Nicholas recognised in her a unique talent for the piano and committed Francesca to years of relentless study in order for her to become a professional classical musician. Even as an adult Nicholas still wields enormous emotional power over Francesca, preventing her from realising true personal happiness. “The Seventh veil” is an intense psychodrama, which uses gothic sets and expressionistic lighting to convey a grave sense of mental torture for its principal characters. Winner of an Academy award for best original screenplay in 1947, this film was a box-office success in Britain.