The Duchess

Based on the biography Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire by Amanda Foreman, The Duchess is the story of the life of Georgiana who gets to William Cavendish, Duke of Devonshire, as it leads to a troubled marriage as well as uncertainty into the role of her life where she’s expected to do so many things for her husband. Directed by Saul Dibb and screenplay by Dibb, Jeffrey Hatcher, and Anders Thomas Jensen, the film is a study of a woman’s role in British aristocracy as she tries to find friendship and love in that world that is restrictive as the character of Georgiana Cavendish is portrayed by Keira Knightley. Also starring Ralph Fiennes, Hayley Atwell, Dominic Cooper, and Charlotte Rampling. The Duchess is a riveting and compelling film from Saul Dibb.

Set in the late 18th Century Great Britain, the film follows the life of Georgiana who is betrothed to the Duke of Devonshire in William Cavendish (Ralph Fiennes) as her task is to give him a male heir and be his wife as she copes with the role she’s given as well as his affairs and her own feelings for an old friend. It’s a film that play into a woman trying to play a role but also come out of it to express her views and such but also her own desires in life. The film’s screenplay by Saul Dibb, Jeffrey Hatcher and Anders Thomas Jensen follow Georgiana’s life as the first act is about her friendship with Charles Grey (Dominic Cooper) and then being married to Cavendish and the role she’s playing as well as deal with the affairs he had with maids. Notably as one of those maids he slept with would borne a child named Charlotte whom Georgiana would care for along with her two daughters in Harryo and Little Georgiana six years after she and Cavendish are married much to Cavendish’s dismay that Georgiana hasn’t produced a male heir.

The script doesn’t just to play into Georgiana’s relationship with Cavendish but also her friendship with Lady Elizabeth “Bess” Foster (Hayley Atwell) who would be a closest ally though their friendship is briefly tarnished by Foster’s affair with Cavendish whom she’s fallen for and bargained with as Cavendish would get her three sons to live with them. It would also explore Georgiana’s relationship with Grey whom she sees as someone who share the same ideals of bringing change to Great Britain yet Cavendish’s position in power can undo all of Grey’s plans. For Georgiana, her marriage to Cavendish isn’t just one about power and status but also this air of importance that she had to play in royal and political society.

Dibb’s direction is largely straightforward yet it does have some element of style while the compositions also says a lot about what is happening without needing to say a word. Notably in scenes during a breakfast, lunch, or dinner at the dining room between Georgiana and Cavendish with Bess later being part of this triangle where Dibb’s wide shots would showcase not just this air of disconnect between Georgiana and Cavendish with the former trying to get to know the latter but also it would also later lead to tension between the two with Bess being in the middle either as a source of disdain from Georgiana or as a mediator between the two. Shot largely at Twickenham Film Studios with exterior locations shot on various locations in England, the film does play into a world that is quaint and reserved though disconnected from some of the realities of what was happening to Britain during that time. Notably as much of Dibb’s direction is shot in palace halls, dining halls, opera houses, and these posh venues while there a few scenes of the streets where Grey is doing a speech with Georgiana’s supporting by his side as he’s talking to the regular people.

Dibb’s direction also uses close-ups and medium shots to play into the interaction between characters including a scene of Bess showing Georgiana the art of seduction and pleasure as it relates to the latter’s feelings towards Grey. The close-ups also add to the anguish that Georgiana is facing during the film’s third act as it play into her love affair with Grey and what Cavendish threatens to do. Yet, it also play into the role she has to play publicly as there is a scene in the film that is shown off screen that even Bess is repulsed by what is happening. Dibb would maintain that role that Georgiana had to play and the sacrifices she makes but also to ensure that she at least she had some impact into Britain’s future while making peace with those in her life. Overall, Dibb crafts a ravishing film about the life of a young duchess and her journey of self-discovery and the role she had to play in late 18th Century British society.

Cinematographer Guyla Pados does brilliant work with the film’s cinematography with its natural usage of lights for the exteriors as well as candle lights and other low-key lighting for the interiors set at night. Editor Masahiro Hirakubo does excellent work with the editing as it is straightforward with some rhythmic cuts to play into the drama as well as some nice matching cuts in some of the film’s compositions. Production designer Michael Carlin, with set decorator Rebecca Alleway and art director Karen Wakefield, does amazing work with the set design from the look of the rooms, dining halls, and many of the interiors as well as a few exterior sets including the town square where Grey speaks to the people. Costume designer Michael O’Connor does fantastic work with the costumes as the design of the dresses and men’s clothing is a major highlight of the film.

Hair designer Jan Archibald and makeup designer Daniel Phillips do terrific work with the design of the wigs and the lavish makeup for some of the parties that Georgiana host for the people in royal society. Special effects supervisor Mark Holt, along with visual effects supervisors Adam Gascoyne and Charlie Noble, does some fine work with some of the film’s minimal effects as it relates to a dramatic party scenes as well as a few scenes of exterior set dressing. Sound editor Catherine Hodgson does superb work with the film’s sound as it help play into the atmosphere of the parties as well as the sparse and uncomfortable silent moments in the film including a key scene off screen where the action is heard in a disturbing presentation. The film’s music by Rachel Portman is incredible for its lush orchestral score that play into the period with some themes that help define a few characters including its approach to the music of the times.

The casting by Lucy Beavan is great as it feature some notable small roles from Georgia King and Bruce Mackinnon as actors at a play that Georgiana, Cavendish, and Bess watch, Emily Jewell as a nanny, Richard McCabe as Sir James Hare, Sebastian Applewhite as Sir Augustus Clifford, Poppy Wigglesworth and Eva Hrela in their respective roles as the young and younger versions of Cavendish’s daughter Charlotte, Emily Cohen as Georgiana’s eldest daughter Harryo, and Mercy Fiennes Tiffin as Georgiana’s youngest daughter in Little G. Aidan McArdle and Simon McBurney are superb in their respective roles as political figures in Richard Brinsley Sheridan and Charles James Fox as two men who befriend Georgiana whom she engages in political and social discussions with as they also become political allies.

Charlotte Rampling is fantastic as Georgiana’s mother Countess Georgiana Spencer who reminds her daughter of the role she has to play but also sympathizes with the anguish that her daughter is dealing with. Dominic Cooper is excellent as Charles Grey as the future prime minister as a man whom Georgiana knew before her marriage as he is someone that is an idealist hoping to make some changes for Britain while having feelings for Georgiana leading to an affair that would bring trouble to his future possibilities. Hayley Atwell is brilliant as Lady Elizabeth “Bess” Foster as a woman that Georgiana meets as she would become her best friend until she falls for Cavendish as she later copes with her actions and what she had to do where she would later be the mediator between Georgiana and Cavendish as well as be the former’s closest confidant.

Ralph Fiennes is amazing as William Cavendish, Duke of Devonshire as this royal official who is a complex individual as someone that is flawed and cold where he would do awful things to Georgiana but is someone who doesn’t like to show his emotions and his warmth to anyone believing it would make him vulnerable as it’s a remarkable performance from Fiennes. Finally, there’s Keira Knightley in a phenomenal performance as Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire as this young woman who is forced into marriage for social reasons where Knightley displays an air of charisma and anguish into a woman who is forced to play a role for society but is also someone eager to say something for herself as it’s one of her finest performances to date.

The Duchess is a sensational film from Saul Dibb that features an incredible performance from Keira Knightley. Along with top-notch supporting performances from Ralph Fiennes, Hayley Atwell, Dominic Cooper, and Charlotte Rampling plus amazing costumes, set designs, cinematography, and a fascinating screenplay that focuses on character study and themes of social and political behaviors. It’s a period film that explores a woman dealing with the role and obligations she has to fulfill only to find her own voice in the role she chooses to play. In the end, The Duchess is a spectacular film from Saul Dibb.

© thevoid99 2019

Begin Again

Written and directed by John Carney, Begin Again is the story of a struggling music executive who finds a young singer-songwriter as the two collaborate on making an album through various locations in New York City. The film is an exploration into two people who both endured failures and disappointments as they try to do something together to express their love for music. Starring Mark Ruffalo, Keira Knightley, Catherine Keener, Hailee Steinfeld, Adam Levine, CeeLo Green, Mos Def, and James Corden. Begin Again is a touching and enjoyable film from John Carney.

The film revolves around a music executive who is down on his luck as he stumbles into a club where he hears a song from a young woman as he wants to sign her to his label and make her album. While it is a simple story of two people who both endured moments in their life as they’re down on their luck as they find something that brings them together through the love of music. For the music executive Dan Mulligan (Mark Ruffalo), he wants to find something that matters regardless if it sells or not as he was once a great music producer whose life has not gone well and has a shaky relationship with his daughter Violet (Hailee Steinfeld). For Gretta James (Keira Knightley), she’s a singer-songwriter still stinging not just from the break-up of her musician boyfriend Dave Kohl (Adam Levine) who cheated on her. It’s also in the fact that really cares about the music and learns that Kohl has sold out in order to become part of the machine.

John Carney’s screenplay has a unique structure where its first act is about Dan stumbling into the club meeting Gretta who reluctantly sings in a club after being prodded by her friend/musician Steve (James Corden). It plays into what Dan and Gretta were doing on the day before they meet as well as the latter and her relationship with Dave. Most notably in how it fell apart when Dave returned with a new song where Gretta learned that he cheated on her. The second act is about Dan and Gretta collaborating to make the album as Dan reluctantly produced himself as he is aware that he’s not getting any support from his label nor his business partner/label head Saul (Mos Def). With a group of several unknown musicians and Steve, Dan would record Gretta’s album on any location as they’re eventually aided by Violet in a means to reconnect with her father. It’s third act isn’t just about the reality of the music industry but also about Dave who returns to meet Gretta as it becomes clear how much he’s changed as it plays into what Gretta wants for herself and her music.

Carney’s direction is very simple as it plays into the wonders of New York City and how music fills that world where Dan and Gretta are eager to make use of its many locations and record whatever they can flesh out musically. Much of it involves a lot of hand-held camera movements with lots of close-ups and medium shots as Carney doesn’t really go for anything big. Yet, he does manage to find moments that are engaging such as Gretta and Dave’s break-up scene where it is about the song that Dave created and their reactions which has Gretta very upset. Carney also creates moments that are lively not just in the outdoor sessions where Dan is recording Gretta and her band but also in a moment where the two walk around New York City listening to music from their earphones. It is all about the love and power of music where Dan would also reveal why things with him and Violet hadn’t been easy until he invites her to play on Gretta’s record where it is this cathartic moment. The scenes involving Dave and the results of Gretta’s record doesn’t just play into some of the cynical realities of the music business but also what music is supposed to be for the artist rather than what Dave and Saul represent. Overall, Carney creates an exhilarating film about two people who find salvation through their love for music.

Cinematographer Yaron Orbach does excellent work with the cinematography from the naturalistic yet colorful look of the scenes set in the day to the usage of lights for the interior/exterior scenes at night. Editor Andrew Marcus does nice work with the editing as it‘s straightforward with some stylish jump-cuts and montage cuts to play into its energy and humor. Production designer Chad Keith, with set decorator Kris Moran and art director Anne Goelz, does fantastic work with the look of the apartments Steve and Dan live in to play into their personalities as well as the massive loft apartment Dan and Gretta lived in where things were good.

Costume designer Arjun Bhasin does terrific work with the costumes as it‘s mostly casual with the exception of the rich designers suits that Saul and Dave wear. Visual effects supervisor Yuval Levy does good work with the minimal visual effects that is used which includes an acceptance speech Dave does that Gretta and Steve see on YouTube as well as an inspiring scene of what Dan sees in Gretta‘s performance. Sound editor Lewis Goldstein does superb work with the sound to capture every layer of the music as it‘s presented on location as well as the atmosphere of the clubs and other venues.

The film’s music by Gregg Alexander is amazing as it‘s a very low-key yet melodic-based score that features elements of folk and pop while music supervisors Matthew Rush Sullivan and Andrea von Foerster bring in music from Stevie Wonder and other artists yet it’s the originals song by Alexander, John Carney, Glen Hansard, and other writers that is the heart of the film as it includes Lost Stars and other songs that Knightley would sing as well as the songs that Levine sings.

The casting by Jeanne McCarthy is brilliant as it includes notable small roles from Cee-Lo Green as rapper Troublegum who helps Dan find musicians and Mos Def (under his real name Yasiin Bey) as Dan’s old friend and business partner Saul who tells him about why he can’t help Dan because of the changes of the music business. Catherine Keener is wonderful as Dan’s ex-wife Miriam who is surprised by Dan’s recent enthusiasm as she would later help him in making Gretta’s album. Adam Levine is superb as Gretta’s ex-boyfriend Dave Kohl who became successful despite the things he had done for her as he copes with not just success but also the fact that he has made a lot of compromises for the music he and Gretta made in the past for the sake of commercialism. James Corden is fantastic as Gretta’s friend Steve who is a street musician who not only helps Gretta cope with her break-up but also to get her to play music again as he would also help Dan in the recording of her album.

Hailee Steinfeld is excellent as Dan’s daughter Violet who isn’t just dealing with growing pains but also not having her dad around as she copes with his frequent absences until she is asked to join his project where she reveals her brilliance as a musician to her father. Keira Knightley is remarkable as Gretta James as a songwriter who just loves to make music as she copes with her ex-boyfriend and his success as well as the need to make music that is true and honest while Knightley shows she can really sing. Finally, there’s Mark Ruffalo in a marvelous performance as Dan Mulligan as a once-famous producer turned music executive who experiences some bad luck until he hears Gretta’s song where he collaborates with her as a way to make something that is meaningful again as Ruffalo brings a lot of humor and some great chemistry with Knightley.

Begin Again is a phenomenal film from John Carney that features great performances from Mark Ruffalo and Keira Knightley. The film isn’t just about the celebration of music but also in the idea of how music can mean so much to people in an age where purity is being coerced by commerce. In the end, Begin Again is a sensational film from John Carney.

John Carney Films: (On the Edge) - Once - (Zonad) - Sing Street

© thevoid99 2015

Summer of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace

Written and directed by George Lucas, The Phantom Menace (Star Wars: Episode I) is the story of two Jedi knights who are asked by the Galactic Republic and a queen to settle a tax dispute where things go wrong as they land on a planet where they would meet a young boy who might be part of a prophecy to bring balance to the Force. The film is a prequel to the original Star Wars trilogy back in the late 1970s and early 80s where Lucas explore the origins of Anakin Skywalker and his eventual descent. Starring Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Ian McDiarmid, Ahmed Best, the voice of Frank Oz, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Jake Lloyd, Ray Park, Pernilla August, and Samuel L. Jackson. The Phantom Menace is a visually-thrilling but extremely messy film from George Lucas.

The film revolves around two Jedi knights who are asked by Galactic Republic and its senate to negotiate a treaty involving a trade federation who refuses to bring shipment to small planet called Naboo. There, things go wrong where they meet an alien creature and help a queen escape while landing on a planet where they meet a young slave boy whom one of the Jedi knights believes is the one person that can bring balance to the Force as darkness looms. It’s a plot that is interesting but the fact that the story begins with a tax dispute is a pretty dumb way to open a story. It would set the tone for a story that doesn’t become uneven in its involvement of politics but also in the myth of the Jedi where there’s a lot of expositions that occur where it definitely raise more baffling questions than answers.

George Lucas’ screenplay does play into a traditional structure where it’s first act involves the Jedi master Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) trying to negotiate terms with the trade federation led by Nute Gunray (Silas Carson) where things fall apart. Upon landing on Naboo, they meet an exiled Gungan named Jar-Jar Binks (Ahmed Best) who would aid them in saving Queen Amidala (Natalie Portman) as they try to go to Coruscant to talk with the Senate. Its second act is set in Tatooine where Qui-Gon, Jar-Jar, an astromech droid named R2-D2 (Kenny Baker), and the queen’s handmaiden Padme (Natalie Portman) try to find parts for their ship where they would meet the young slave boy Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd) where Qui-Gon senses a strong surge of the Force in Anakin as he hopes to free him. Lucas’ scenario does try to keep things forward but there’s too many things as the character of Jar-Jar is this unnecessary comic relief that doesn’t really do anything for the story.

Instead, he’s a buffoon that is made to entertain kids except that he’s not funny nor is he engaging. It is among some of the problems with the script as well as the dialogue as Lucas is notoriously known for writing poor dialogue. Especially in the second act where the story moves to Coruscant as it plays into the world of politics and corruption where it does drag the story immensely to the realm of boredom. When its third act returns to Naboo where Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon confront a Sith lord named Darth Maul (Ray Parks, with the voice of Peter Serafinowicz) while Jar-Jar leads the battle against the trade federation’s army of robots where Anakin is in the action during a star fight between the forces of Naboo and a trade federation’s spaceship that controls the robots. It’s a moment where a lot goes on yet it is never meshes coherently since Lucas wants to really go for something that is intense. The result only works somewhat but it is handled very clumsily.

Lucas’ direction is quite sprawling in terms of the visual language that he creates to establish a world that is very diverse but is on the verge of becoming tumultuous due to greed and corruption. Shot on various locations such as Tunisia as Tatooine and Watford, Hertfordshire in Great Britain as Naboo with much of the production shot in studios in Britain, the film does play into something that is very diverse but it has elements of racial profiling in the way some of the alien characters are depicted. It’s among the negative aspects of the film that really shows how Lucas perceive the alien creatures as either bumbling idiots or greedy creatures with very little complexity into who they are. At the same time, Lucas’ direction also tries to create elements of foreshadowing and irony as it relates to the character of Senator Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) who would talk about the greed and corruption of politics to get Queen Amidala to get a new Supreme Chancellor to head the Galactic Senate.

It is among some of the issues in the way Lucas directs his actors where he definitely states the obvious as it relates to Palpatine while it sort of kills the suspense for anyone that hadn’t seen the original trilogy. While Lucas’ approach to some of the scenes involving the pod race in Tatooine where Qui-Gon would make a gamble to free Anakin from slavery as well as the lightsaber and battle scenes are engaging to watch in terms of his compositions and the shooting styles he uses. He’s really unable to do the same to other scenes such as the moments of suspense as well as the scenes involving the political issues in the film which comes across as very boring. Overall, Lucas creates a very uneven yet nonsensical film about a dispute between two factions in the galaxy.

Cinematographer David Tattersall does excellent work with the film‘s cinematography to capture the hot and sunny look of Tatooine to the lavish lights of the city planet of Coruscant to play into the different worlds of the galaxy. Editors Ben Burtt and Paul Martin Smith do nice work with the editing to capture some of the action in the film though its usage of transition wipes does get overused very quickly. Production designer Gavin Bocquet, along with set decorator Peter Wapole and supervising art director Peter Russell, does brilliant work with the look of the different places from the palaces of Naboo and the Gungan palaces underwater as well as the look of Coruscant and the Jedi temple. Costume designer Trisha Biggar does terrific work with the costumes from the lavish clothes that Queen Amidala wears to the robes of the Senate along with the clothes of the Jedi knights.

Makeup artist Paul Engelen does fantastic work with the look of Queen Amidala in her fully-realized regalia along with the look of some of the aliens who are part of the Jedi council. Visual effects supervisors Dennis Muren, John Knoll, and Scott Squires do amazing work with the visual effects for some of the sequences in space and some of the battles though the design of some of the creatures aren‘t so great since many of them aren‘t engaging to care for. Sound designer Ben Burtt, along with sound editors Tom Bellfort and Matthew Wood, does superb work with the sound to play into the sound effects for some of the droids along with the laser cannons and other sound textures. The film’s music by John Williams is phenomenal for not just the usage of old themes but also some new ones with its approach to bombastic orchestral music for the pod races and the lightsaber battles along with some low-key pieces for the dramatic moments.

The casting by Robin Gurland is pretty good as it features notable appearances from Warwick Davis as a pod-racer spectator, Ralph Brown as the Queen’s starship pilot, Keira Knightley as the queen’s decoy, Oliver Ford Davies as Naboo’s governor who is forced to deal with the trade federation, Hugh Quarie as the queen’s security chief Captain Panaka, Pernilla August as Anakin’s mother Shmi, and Terence Stamp in a superb performance as Supreme Chancellor Valorum who tries to settle things between Naboo and the trade federation which shows how weak he is at his job. The voice performances of Anthony Daniels as an early version of C-3P0 and Frank Oz as the Jedi master Yoda are terrific for what they provide for the story. Other voice roles from Andy Secombe as the junk dealer Watto and Lewis McLeod as the villainous pod racer Sebulba are quite good despite the dialogue their given while Silas Carson as trade federation leader Nute Gunray and Brian Blessed as the Gungan leader Boss Nass aren’t given strong material to work with for their characters.

Kenny Baker is excellent as R2-D2 as the droid who would help the Queen’s starship during an escape as he becomes a close friend to the major characters. Ray Park is fantastic as the Sith lord Darth Maul as someone who is very skilled in the dark side of the Force with Peter Serafinowicz provides a brooding voice for the character. Ian McDiarmid is brilliant as Senator Palpatine as a Naboo government official who tries to deal with the Senate while being very shady in his dealings as he conceals a much darker identity. Samuel L. Jackson is wonderful in a small but crucial role as the Jedi master Mace Windu who, like Yoda, is suspicious about taking Anakin to be trained as a Jedi as it relates to Anakin’s own upbringing and feelings for his mother. The film’s worst performance is Ahmed Best in the voice performance as Jar-Jar Binks as this clumsy and idiotic Gungan who does nothing but make a full of himself and cause trouble as he is really one of the most atrocious characters ever created in the history of cinema.

Jake Lloyd is OK as the young Anakin Skywalker as a young slave boy who is very talented in making things and being a great pod racer as he copes with the new world he is to face where Lloyd shows a lot of energy but some of his line delivery isn’t very good. Natalie Portman is decent as Queen Padme Amidala as a queen who disguises herself as a handmaiden while dealing with the chaos in her homeland where Portman has some good moments but also suffers from the script’s weakness and poor dialogue. Ewan McGregor is amazing as a young Obi-Wan Kenobi as a Jedi apprentice who is in the final stages of his own training as he tries to reason with his master about taking Anakin as he speaks for the Jedi council while dealing with his development as a Jedi. Finally, there’s Liam Neeson in a remarkable performance as Qui-Gon Jin as a Jedi master who is wise while being a bit reckless where he believes that Anakin is the chosen one and hopes to train with or without the approval of the Jedi council while coping with the presence of the Sith.

Despite all of its amazing visuals, top-notch technical work, and some thrilling sequences, The Phantom Menace is a terrible film from George Lucas. Though it does have moments that are worth watching, it is hampered by a poor script as well as characters that serve no purpose to the film at all. Even as it features elements of political allegory and things that has no business being in a sci-fi adventure film. In the end, The Phantom Menace is mess of a film from George Lucas.

Star Wars Films: Star Wars - The Empire Strikes Back - Return of the Jedi - Attack of the Clones - Revenge of the Sith - The Force Awakens - The Last Jedi - The Rise of Skywalker

Related: Holiday Special - Caravan of Courage - The Battle for Endor - The Clone Wars - Fanboys - The People vs. George Lucas

Star Wars Anthology Films: Rogue One - Solo - (Untitled Star Wars Anthology Film)

George Lucas Films: THX 1138 - (American Graffiti)

© thevoid99 2015

Anna Karenina (2012 film)

Based on the novel by Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina is the story of the titular socialite, who is the wife of a statesman, who begins an affair with an officer in late 19th Century Russia. Directed by Joe Wright and screenplay by Tom Stoppard, the film is a look into the life of a woman as she tries to find love only to be ruined by her affair as Keira Knightley plays the title role. Also starring Jude Law, Aaron Johnson, Alicia Vikander, Matthew McFayden, Domhnall Gleeson, Kelly MacDonald, Ruth Wilson, Shirley Henderson, Olivia Williams, and Emily Watson. Anna Karenina is a beautiful yet vapid film from Joe Wright.

Set in 1874 in Imperial Russia, the film is an exploration into the life of this aristocratic woman who falls for a cavalry officer where their affair becomes scandalous. Yet, the film is an exploration into many ideas of love as well as infidelity where the latter showcases a woman’s decision in being with this officer named Count Alexei Vronsky (Aaron Johnson) where they fall in love despite the fact that she’s married to a statesman in Count Alexei Karenin (Jude Law). Yet, Vronsky is notorious for wooing many women including Anna’s sister-in-law Kitty (Alicia Vikander) who is also pursued by Konstatin Levin (Domhnall Gleeson) who tries to deal with his ideas about true love and such. All of which is told in a very broad but messy story that doesn’t hold itself together.

Tom Stoppard’s screenplay has this narrative where there’s a lot of characters involved where it has this unique structure that would play Anna’s fall from grace. Yet, it has these other subplots involving her brother Stiva (Matthew McFayden) trying to help Levin while having his own extramarital affairs as well the stuff involving Levin. The first act explores Anna’s marriage to Count Karenin where it’s one where there’s not much communication yet there is love until Anna meets Count Vronsky. The second act is about Anna and Count Vronsky’s love affair and the scandal that it creates where Karenin becomes embarrassed. The third act is about Anna’s attempt to return to society where she is disapproved by those around her while her relationship with Vronsky starts to fall apart.

Notably as the script reveals a lot about Vronsky’s appetite for women which adds to Anna’s insecurities yet neither character become interesting as they have range of emotions that drags the story. Even as the script would shift into what Count Karenin is doing as he feels humiliated as well as the stuff about Levin who feels lost as he tries to comprehend all of the ideas of love. Notably as there’s people like Stiva’s wife Dolly (Kelly MacDonald) who isn’t sure about wanting Stiva back or Vronsky’s cousin Betsy (Ruth Wilson) whose appearances would raise questions about Vronsky’s devotion to Anna. All of which just adds to the messiness of the script as it gets to the point where there’s too many characters to follow and how important they are to the story.

Joe Wright’s direction is unique in the way he presents the story where he wants to go for something that is theatrical where most of the film is presented in a theater. A lot of which seems to play into a world that seems artificial and sort of removed from reality to portray Anna’s idea of the world where things aren’t cold and such. Even in moments of the film where some of the action takes place backstage or above the stage where people will freeze while she and Vronsky are moving. It all plays to that world where Anna and those around her seem to thrive in where there’s even a horse race that occurs on the stage where Anna is watching from the booth. It’s these moments where the idea of fantasy and reality would collide as many of the moments set in the Karenin home is a mixture of that.

There’s also moments where the fantasy is replaced by reality which plays into the Levin’s plight as he goes to the country to deal with some family matters as well as resigning to the fate that might happen to him. These are moments that are all interesting but it also adds to the confusing nature of the story where Wright wants to do both. It unfortunately creates this idea of style over substance where there’s all of this gorgeous imagery with some amazing tracking shots and moments where everything happens in one take. Yet, it doesn’t do enough to really engage the audience into the story despite its emphasis on the themes of adultery and love where its end result is a bit mixed. Overall, Wright crafts a very lavish but lifeless film about a woman’s affair that led to scandal and the loss of her identity.

Cinematographer Seamus McGarvey does fantastic work with the film‘s cinematography from the gorgeous look of the exterior locations to some of the lighting in the theater stage and some of its interior settings. Editor Melanie Ann Oliver does excellent work with the editing from the use of montages and fast-cuts for the dancing scenes as well as some smooth transitions for the fantasy-reality scenes. Production designer Sarah Greenwood, with set decorator Katie Spencer and supervising art director Niall Moroney, does amazing work with the set pieces from the look of the Karenin home to the look of the stage where a lot of the action occurs.

Costume designer Jacqueline Durran does brilliant work with the costumes from the uniforms that Vronsky wears to the many dresses that many of the female characters wear including Anna. Hair/makeup designer Ivana Primorac does dazzling work with the hair/makeup to complement the different looks of the many female characters. Sound editors Craig Berkey and Becki Ponting do superb work with the sound to capture the intimacy of the theatrical settings as well as the broad sound of the scenes set at the train station. The film’s music by Dario Marianelli is spectacular for its heavy yet effective orchestral score to play out the romance and drama while also using some low-key moments and some themes for the different characters including a humorous one for Stiva.

The casting by Dixie Chassay and Jina Jay is terrific for the ensemble that was created as it features some notable small roles from Holliday Grainger as a baroness friend of Vronsky, Michelle Dockery as a friend of Anna, Shirley Henderson as a disapproving madam at a scene late in the film, Raphael Personnaz as Vronsky’s brother, Oskar McNamara as Anna and Count Karenin’s son Serhoza, Alexandra Roach as the Countess Nordstron that Vronsky tries to woo early in the film, and Emily Watson in a chilling performance as the Countess Ivanova who observes Anna’s behaviors as she would eventually tell Karenin about what is going on. Ruth Williams is wonderful as the mysterious Princess Betsy who tries to get her cousin Vronsky to steer him away from Anna while Olivia Williams is excellent as Vronsky’s mother Countess Vronskaya who is very disapproving about her son’s relationship with Anna.

Matthew McFayden is fantastic as Anna’s brother Stiva who tries to deal with the chaos in his own life while helping out Levin. Kelly MacDonald is superb as Stiva’s wife Dolly who deals with her husband’s infidelity while helping out her sister Kitty to find love. Alicia Vikander is remarkable as Kitty as a young woman who is supposed to marry Vronsky only to lose herself in a whirlwind of many prospects while being courted by the more kind Levin. Domhnall Gleeson is marvelous as Levin as a young man who is in love with Kitty only to lose her to her more revered prospects as he tries to deal with his idea of love as well as his family who are dealing with their own troubles. Jude Law is amazing as Count Karenin as a man who is devoted to his service for his country while trying to make time for his family only to learn the truth about what Anna is doing as he tries to comprehend everything as well as make some decisions about what to do for his son.

Aaron Johnson is quite bland as Count Vronsky where Johnson doesn’t do enough to make his character interesting as he spend some of his time being aloof or doe-eyed where it comes across as very uninspiring to watch. Keira Knightley is pretty terrible as the titular character as she spends some of her time either overacting in some of the dramatic moments or just underplaying where she often wears a veil and gaze. It’s a performance that doesn’t allow Knightley to really do more for the character as it has her just being sad and confused most of the time though she’s more effective in the happier moments as it’s not one of her best works.

Despite its amazing supporting cast and technical work, Anna Karenina is a very disappointing film from Joe Wright. Due to the uninspiring leading performances of Keira Knightley and Aaron Johnson as well as Joe Wright’s emphasis on style over substance and Tom Stoppard’s messy script. It’s a film that had all of the tools to be something quite grand and engaging only to end up being dull and flat. In the end, Anna Karenina is a very underwhelming film from Joe Wright.

Joe Wright Films: Pride & Prejudice (2005 film) - Atonement - The Soloist - Hanna

© thevoid99 2013

A Dangerous Method

Based on Christopher Hampton’s stage play The Talking Cure and John Kerr’s non-fiction novel A Most Dangerous Method: the story of Jung, Freud, and Sabina Spielrein. A Dangerous Method is the story about Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud’s friendship that is later ruined by Jung’s examination towards his controversial patient Sabina Spielrein. Directed by David Cronenberg and screenplay by Christopher Hampton, the film explores the world of psychology in the early 20th Century as well as how this woman would destroy the friendship of two great minds. Starring Michael Fassbender, Viggo Mortensen, Keira Knightley, Sarah Gadon, and Vincent Cassel. A Dangerous Method is an engrossing yet provocative drama from David Cronenberg.

It’s 1904 as Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley) has arrived to a Swiss mental hospital under the care of Dr. Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender). Jung’s interest in Speilrein’s case of abuse and psychological torment has him trying to understand more about Spielrein as he takes some of the methods of renowned psychiatrist Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen) to understand more about Speilrein’s history of abuse. Two years later with wife Emma (Sarah Gadon), Jung travels to Vienna to meet with Freud where the two have a 13-hour conversation about psychoanalysis and Jung’s work on Speilrein, who has left the hospital to study psychiatry as she also helps Jung out in various studies.

When Freud sends Otto Gross (Vincent Cassel) to Jung for treatment, Gross would end up stating his own ideals of sexual perversion and liberation as it would affect Jung’s relationship with Speilrein leading to an affair with the two. Yet, it would cause complications for Jung as Freud wonders what troubles Jung leading Freud to visit Switzerland. The affair would end due to pressure as Speilrein makes some demands to be become a patient for Freud as the two men travel to America to discuss the world of psychology. Speilrein would visit Jung years later seeking aid for her dissertation on sexual psychology leading to a fallout between Jung and Freud that included Jung’s own conflicts of interest over everything he’s worked on.

The film is an exploration into the world of psychology from two of its great minds in the early 20th Century. Spanning 10 years through various studies and conversations, it is a film where this one woman whose own psychological trauma and torture would challenge the ideals of two men and unknowingly break their friendship. While the film is a dramatization of what happened in those 10 years, it is an interesting study about the world of psychology as well as a human drama about these three people and how they’re shaped into this exploration of sexual psychology and how it would play into emotions and instinct.

Christopher Hampton’s script plays up that sense of intrigue into this woman’s own psychological torment as she arrives as mad patient who is excited by being beaten for sexual pleasure as it relates to her own abuse as a child. This would baffle someone as intelligent and driven like Carl Jung who hopes to find more about the world of psychology as he would use a method of his mentor/friend Sigmund Freud to understand this woman. What would happen is that his own ideals would be shaken by this woman as well as a patient of Freud where he begins to explore his own sexual desires. The film plays as a character study of sorts in the character of Carl Jung as he eventually becomes a conflicted man devoted to his role as a top psychiatrist as well as being a man. He is in love with Sabina Spielrein but also is devoted to his wife Emma.

This would create a sense of confusion as it would later involve the more experienced and respected Sigmund Freud. Freud is a man that is looking for someone who is willing to carry his teaching as he believes that Jung is the man for the job until Jung deviates from Freud’s own teachings by going further into the unknown. This would create the kind of tension between these two men as Spielrein starts to go into Freud’s own methods and forge her own ideas much to Jung’s chagrin. While it’s a story that is quite complex and at times, can be overwhelming due to its study on psychology. It is still a very broad script by Christopher Hampton.

David Cronenberg’s direction is truly hypnotic for the way he re-creates early 20th Century homes and towns as it’s shot mostly in Germany with parts of it in Austria. While it is a period drama with costumes made of the time, Cronenberg doesn’t exactly go for an entirely straightforward picture. Instead, he is more concerned about the dramatic implications of psychology as well as what drove these individuals apart. The sexual content isn’t very explicit but does dare to be dangerous as this strange behavior regarding sex was very new and taboo at the time. Cronenberg chooses to downplay all of that by trying to find natural reactions to these events while still having the film focus on its three central characters as well as its two supporting characters.

Cronenberg creates some visually-gorgeous compositions to a lot of the images set in Switzerland that includes a lake where Jung and Freud would have conversations on a boat. Yet, it is the way Cronenberg frames the actors in these conversation scenes that prove to be very spectacular. He would have the dominant actor in a close-up of sorts while the other would still be in the background observing. There would be a few cuts back and forth to maintain the rhythm of these conversations as Cronenberg is interested in what is needed to be said. While the film is Cronenberg showing some restraint in his approach to camera movements and wide depth of field shots of the locations. He does create a truly mesmerizing film that explores the very complicated yet fascinating world of psychology and human nature.

Cinematographer Peter Suschitzky does an extraordinary job with the film‘s very exquisite and beautiful photography. Notably for the daytime exteriors in Vienna and Germany to complement the beauty of the locations while maintaining a much darker yet stylized look for the nighttime interior scenes which includes Jung‘s time with Speilrein. Editor Ronald Sanders does an excellent job with the film‘s editing by maintaining a straightforward yet effective approach to the cutting while utilizing rhythmic cuts for the intensity of the conversations. Production designer James McAteer, along with set decorator Gernot Thondel and art director Sebastian Soukup, does an incredible job with the set pieces created such as the big home of Jung and his office as well as Speilrein’s apartment and the lavish office of Freud to express their personalities.

Costume designer Denise Cronenberg does a brilliant job with the period costumes created such as the suits and hats the men wear to the lovely dresses and white silk worn by the women including Sabina and Emma to contrast their different personalities. Visual effects supervisor Wojiech Zielinski does a nice job with the film‘s minimal visual effects scene such as the ship traveling to America scene to create backgrounds of early 1900s New York City and of the ship‘s exterior.. Sound editors Wayne Griffin and Michael O’Farrell do a wonderful job with the sound work to convey the sparse intimacy of the conversations as well as the sounds of horse carriages and objects presented in the film. The film’s score by Howard Shore is spellbinding with its array of somber piano pieces and lush orchestral cuts to play up the dramatic tension and romantic elements of the film.

The casting by Deidre Bowen is phenomenal for the small ensemble that is created in the film. Sarah Gadon is terrific as Carl Jung’s young wife Emma who tries to deal with his sudden detached behavior while grounding him from his studies. Vincent Cassel is great as controversial patient Otto Gross who would push Carl Jung much further into his exploration of sexual perversion and behavior while being a sly seducer to the nurses at the hospital. Keira Knightley’s performance is pretty good in some parts where she brings a sense of energy and passion to the character of Sabina Spielrein. Though it doesn’t start off great early on as she is extremely over the top early on while displaying twitches that feel very off as well as Knightley’s Russian accent that sounds more American than Russian. Though it’s good in some parts, it’s a performance where Knightley doesn’t seem to rise to the challenge.

Viggo Mortensen is brilliant in the role of Sigmund Freud as Mortensen brings a very calm yet charismatic performance to the famed psychologist. Notably as he also displays a sense of passion and reasoning needed for this character as it’s definitely Mortensen at his finest. Finally, there’s Michael Fassbender in a very chilling yet captivating performance as Carl Jung. While it’s a very restrained performance as a gifted psychologist who finds himself being challenged. There is also a great sense of anguish that Fassbender displays as he’s dealing with his own idealism changed as well finding himself in conflict with Freud and eventually, himself as it’s a very brave yet harrowing performance from Fassbender.

A Dangerous Method is a remarkable yet very engaging film from David Cronenberg that features outstanding performances from Michael Fassbender and Viggo Mortensen. While it may not be one of Cronenberg’s more stylish yet suspenseful-driven films. It is still a very interesting one for the way Cronenberg would explore the world of sexual perversion as well as its psychological attributes. Notably as it would allow audiences to explore that world and why it was so taboo at the time. In the end, A Dangerous Method is a smart yet alluring film from David Cronenberg.

David Cronenberg Films: Stereo - Crimes of the Future - Shivers - Rabid - Fast Company - The Brood - Scanners - Videodrome - The Dead Zone - The Fly (1986 film) - Dead Ringers - Naked Lunch - M. Butterfly - Crash - eXistenZ - Spider - A History of Violence - Eastern Promises - Cosmopolis - Maps to the Stars - Crimes of the Future (2022 film)

The Auteurs #26: David Cronenberg Pt. 1 - Pt. 2

© thevoid99 2012

Atonement

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com at 1/20/08.

In 2005, an unknown director named Joe Wright brought another film adaptation of the beloved Jane Austen novel Pride & Prejudice to the big screen. With an all-star cast led by Keira Knightley, the film became an unexpected hit for the young director as Knightley herself received an Oscar nomination for her role as Elizabeth Bennett. Following the film's success, Wright's next plan was to adapt the beloved Ian McEwan about a love affair torn apart by a lie from a young girl who is trying to figure out her sins. The novel known as Atonement was a hit with critics and book readers as Wright chose to expand his ambitions into a huge film adaptation of McEwan's beloved novel.

Directed by Joe Wright with an adapted script by Christopher Hampton, Atonement tells the story of a young rich girl and the son of a housekeeper who fall in love only to be torn apart by a misinterpreted accusation of the girl's young sister. Following this supposed crime, the lovers try to come together during World War II while the young girl is trying to figure out her sins and the truth itself. Reuniting with Keira Knightley, Joe Wright takes a huge leap in making a film that is grander and more harrowing than his previous film. Also starring James McAvoy, Brenda Blethyn, Harriet Waller, Juno Temple, Patrick Kennedy, Benedict Cumberbatch, Danny Mays, with film director Anthony Minghella, and in the role of Briony, Saoirse Ronan, Romola Garai, and Vanessa Redgrave. Atonement is a rich, powerful study of sin and its effects from director Joe Wright.

It's the late 1930s as a young girl named Briony Tallis (Saorise Ronan) is completing a play she hopes to show when her eldest brother Leon (Patrick Kennedy) is set to return. Meanwhile, everyone is getting prepared as Briony wants to rehearse the play with her young cousins including Lola (Juno Temple) and twins Jackson and Pierrette (Charlie & Felix von Simson). Later that day, Briony talks to her older sister Cecilia (Keira Knightley) about the housekeeper's son Robbie (James McAvoy) who is set to go to medical school with help from Cecilia's father. During a botched rehearsal for Briony's play, Briony sees a moment between Cecilia and Robbie that led to Cecilia jumping into a garden-infested fountain.

Later that day, Leon arrives with a friend named Paul Marshall (Benedict Cumberbatch) who wows Cecilia's cousins with chocolates. With Robbie invited to the dinner by Leon, Robbie's mother Grace (Brenda Blethyn) is amazed at how he’s starting to have a great future as he tries to write a letter to Cecilia about his feelings. Yet, when he sees Briony playing in the garden, he asks her to give the letter to Cecilia but then realizes he makes a mistake when Briony reads the letter that she gave to Cecilia. The night starts to become troubling when Briony catches Cecilia and Robbie having sex. Things become more complicated when Briony's behavior towards Robbie is aggressive when she is asked by her mother (Harriet Waller) to fetch the twins. When the twins aren't in their rooms, everyone goes for a search where Briony sees an incident involving Lola that changes everything.

Four years later in the beginning stages of World War II, Robbie is a soldier in Northern France as he is joined by Tommy Nettle (Danny Mays) and Frank Mays (Nonso Anozie) during a mission in France. Robbie accepted to become a soldier to avoid further jail time for a crime he didn't commit due to Briony's testimony years ago. Robbie thinks about a meeting he had with Cecilia six months before as she has become a nurse with a promise to her that he will return to her. Walking to the north beach of France with Tommy and Frank, the ill Robbie finally reaches the beaches of Dunkirk hoping to be evacuated with the rest of wounded soldiers. Meanwhile, Briony (Romola Garai) has become a nurse in training. Trying to figure out what she saw those years ago, she is trying to write a story while hoping to have contact with Cecilia through unsuccessful attempts. Briony finally understands the horrors of war where at one moment, she tries to comfort a dying French soldier named Luc (Jeremie Renier) as she tries to come to terms with her own misinterpretations.

When she finally finds Cecilia's address where three weeks before Robbie is sent to France, she meets her older sister and Robbie as she reveals what she really saw and everything. Yet, with so much bitterness towards her, Briony remains haunted until by the time she becomes 77-year olds and as a writer, Briony (Vanessa Redgrave) reveals what she wrote and the result of everything that had happened as she comes to terms of these events in her final days.

While Ian McEwan's story of sin and its effects, the film is a study of morality and how simple mistakes and misinterpretations can ruin the lives of people and such. Screenwriter Christopher Hampton and director Joe Wright creates a film about perspectives in the style of what happened and such. The first example is the broken vase scene where Cecilia dives into the fountain to retrieve a broken piece. The first scene is from Briony's young perspective and then the second is from Robbie and Cecilia's. This is a style of storytelling that is made famous by the Akira Kurosawa 1950 classic film Rashomon about a rape & murder told from four different perspectives. It's really a psychological film where Hampton and Wright are trying to get the audience to think about what they've seen and such.

The film is also a character study of sorts from the mind of Briony. Here's a young girl who saw a few things she didn't understand and then, when a crime that she witnesses turns out to go wrong. The motions in event happen as everything falls apart where this girl turned into a young woman is trying to figure out what she really saw and how she can atone herself from these incidents that she caused. Hampton's study of character and sin is really engrossing as the sadness and frustrations in both Robbie and Cecilia for their love together and how these events are forcing them to be apart. While there's an abrupt shift in that moment from Briony's life in World War II to her present time. It conveys the sense of Briony's state of mind from the previous event she just saw as she begins to think about as a 77-year old woman. The script is definitely faithful to Ian McEwan's novel in some respects while it really serves as a film that is part romance and part mystery.

Director Joe Wright whose lush, stylized approach to directing that made his feature-film debut Pride & Prejudice such a delight to watch now takes a huge step forward into crafting his style. The presentations, the compositions he creates as well as the atmosphere from the dream-like world of the Tallis estate with its gardens and ponds to the harsh, desolate world of Dunkirk beach that included an unbroken tracking shot from a steadicam that conveys the sense of horror and sadness. What is clear is that Wright is becoming more confident as a director as he takes the audience back in time to a period where things are tense and such that included such moments of horror during the war. Even Wright's dramatic presentation is more intimate as directs the actor in a theatrical approach, particularly in the Tallis estate scenes and the sequence involving Cecilia, Robbie, and the 18-year old Briony. Overall, Wright has now become a director who is on his way to fulfill his potential.

Cinematographer Seamus McGarvey does some wonderful work with his lush presentation of the Tallis exterior daytime scenes with some intimate lighting in some of the darker, interior scenes in the estate. The nighttime sequences are wonderfully colorful as it conveys the sense of emotion while the war-time scenes are wonderfully shot to convey its horror. Notably a scene where Robbie with his fellow soldiers walk into the woods to see an act of horror that has McGarvey doing some amazing work. Editor Paul Tothill does some great cutting from the use of backwards movement to the perspective cutting. Tothill's editing is truly superb to convey the sense of emotion and action that goes on. Even through the very emotional scene of Briony, Cecilia, and Robbie that has a rhythm to confirm every moment of drama that goes on.

Production designer Sarah Greenwood with art director Ian Bailie and set decorator Katie Spencer do amazing work in the posh look of the Tallis estate with all of its period look in the furniture, antiques, and such while the war-time scenes are great to convey the dirty, working-class look. Even in the ruins of the Dunkirk scenes are wonderfully built to convey the sense of horror and tragedy. Costume designer Jacqueline Durran does great work in the period-style costumes from the swimsuits Knightley and Ronan wears to the dresses that Knightley wears at night and in the wartime scenes. Durran's costumes are wonderfully exquisite to the times as even the men whether in tuxedos or in army gear are great. The sound work of Catherine Hodgson, recordist Danny Hambrook, and mixer Paul Hamblin is wonderful in capturing the atmosphere of war in the arrival of the Dunkirk scene while it's in greater use to the Tallis estate scenes in some of young Briony's writing in mix with Robbie's writing a letter to Cecilia.

The film's music consists of operatic and classical pieces by Claude Debussy and Giacomo Puccini plus wartime music by Walter Kent & Nat Burton and the prayer piece Dear Lord & Father Of Mankind by John Greenleaf Whittier and Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry are featured. Yet, the music that dominates the film is the sweeping score of Dario Marianelli. Marianelli's score is truly one of 2007's best film scores with its huge arrangements and rhythmic orchestration that includes themes of Briony that is accompanied by a typewriter-rhythm while the more romantic score is very dramatic with flourishing arrangements. The music of the Dunkirk is also sweeping and dramatic with its sense of horror and tragedy as Marianelli creates a score that truly amazing in its own.

The casting by Jina Jay is superb with wonderful small performances from Belgium actor Jeremie Renier as a wounded French soldier, Nonso Anozie as Frank Mays who walks with Robbie in the woods of Northern France, Gina McKee as Briony's head nurse Sister Drummond, Alfie Allen as servant Danny Hardman, film director Anthony Mingella as the interviewer who interviews the 77-year old Briony, Charlie & Felix von Simson as Briony's twin cousins Jackson and Pierrette, and Pride & Prejudice co-stars Peter Wight as a police inspector, and Brenda Blethyn in a great performance as Robbie's caring mother. Harriet Waller is also good as Cecilia and Briony's mother who adores Briony's talents while in shock over Robbie's actions in the crime.

Patrick Kennedy is good as Cecilia's eldest brother Leon while Benedict Cumberbatch is excellent as the charming Paul Marshall. Juno Temple is also excellent as Briony's cousin Lola who manages to become a key player in an incident as she acts a precocious young teenager. One of the film's best supporting performances is Danny Mays as Robbie's fellow soldier Tommy Nettle who brings some humor with some comments but becomes the companion who tries to comfort Robbie in the dire of times.

Keira Knightley delivers a fine performance as Cecilia, a young woman who is deeply in love with Robbie though she couldn't show her feelings publicly. When the love is gone, she is a woman desperate for him as she refuses to have contact with her sister. While it's not as good as her previous collaboration with Wright in Pride & Prejudice, Knightley is at least proving that she's more than a pretty face. James McAvoy delivers an amazing performance as Robbie, a man with ambitions to become a doctor and Cecilia's lover who is good, kind man. When he’s accused of a crime he didn't commit and becomes a soldier, McAvoy's performance is just amazing for his observation and weariness as he sells the sense of frustrations and tragedy of his character. McAvoy and Knightley display amazing chemistry in the scenes they’re in as McAvoy has the look and presence of traditional leading men that came before him.

In the roles of Briony, the trio of actresses for the role are all superb in their performances. Newcomer Saorise Ronan is amazing as the 13-year old Briony, a young girl who has a crush on Robbie and has aspirations to be a writer as she conveys the misguided innocence of a young girl. Ronan's performances in the more dramatic scenes are great for her quick-wit reaction and angst that is displayed as her performance is just unforgettable. Equally as great as well as impressive is Romola Garai as the 18-year old Briony. Garai's performance is astonishing for her sense of restraint in how she tries to come to terms with her actions while not having contact with a lot of people.

Her scene in her attempt to atone for her actions is more surprising as she completely restrains herself from the more dramatic Knightley and forceful McAvoy. It's in that scene that Garai steals the show as she is proving to be one of Britain's finest actresses. Vanessa Redgrave is brilliant in her brief role as the 77-year old Briony who is still trying to find forgiveness in her final days as Redgrave's performance is just powerful for her look and weariness.

Atonement is a rich, powerful, and haunting masterpiece from Joe Wright and company helmed by fantastic performances from Keira Knightley, James McAvoy, and the trio of Saorise Ronan, Romola Garai, and Vanessa Redgrave. While fans of the book might have some issues with the adaptation, they will at least enjoy Wright's interpretation of the book. Those who loved Pride & Prejudice will be amazed in what Wright did as a director as his next film will definitely be one to anticipate for. In the end, for a rich film that questions sin and its consequences, Atonement is the film to go see.

Joe Wright Films: Pride & Prejudice (2005 film) - The Soloist - Hanna - Anna Karenina

(C) thevoid99 2011

Pride & Prejudice (2005 film)

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 12/5/05 w/ Additional Edits.

Novelist Jane Austen has been known for creating witty and fantastic romantic novels during the 19th Century. Several of them had become films like Sense & Sensibility in 1995 by director Ang Lee that starred Emma Thompson who won an award for the film's screenplay. Another film that received great reviews in 1996 based on an Austen novel was Emma starring Gwyneth Paltrow while a year earlier, a modern day version of that novel called Clueless was also popular. Another of Austen's famous novels is Pride & Prejudice that some said was the blueprint of what would become the romantic comedy. The story of five young women living in a poor area in 18th Century England where one of the daughters rebels the idea of marriage for money while falling for an introverted but conflicted man named Darcy.

Throughout the years, there's been several versions of Pride & Prejudice on film yet in 1995, a five-hour miniseries starring Colin Firth as Darcy is often considered to be the most quintessential adaptation of Austen's novel. Recently, there's been other variations on Pride & Prejudice including the Bridget Jones films that also starred Firth as a Darcy-like character and Gurinder Chadha of Bend It Like Beckham directed a Bollywood-inspired version called Bride & Prejudice. Now a new version has emerged where this time around, to play the novel's heroine of Elizabeth Bennett, they turn to one of the hottest young actresses around in Keira Knightley to play the role of rebellious heroine.

Directed by Joe Wright with a screenplay by Deborah Moggach (with additional treatment from Austen fan Emma Thompson), Pride & Prejudice is a love story that explores class, society, and marriage for love or money. Set in 18th Century England, it's a story of how the rebellious Elizabeth Bennett decides to change those rules while dealing with the more conflicted Mr. Darcy. Also starring a large cast of British actors including Brenda Blethyn, Judi Dench, Rosamund Pike, Talulah Riley, Carey Mulligan, Tom Hollander, Simon Woods, Peter Wight, Penelope Wilton and Matthew McFayden as Mr. Darcy plus American actress Jena Malone and Canadian actor Donald Sutherland as Mr. Bennett. This new film adaptation of Pride & Prejudice succeeds in bringing the Austen classic to life once again for a new generation of filmgoers.

While living in a modest farm with their own land and a small income, the Bennett family is awaiting some riches to come with Mr. Bennett destined to be gone soon. With Mrs. Bennett (Brenda Blethyn) knowing that if her five young daughters are to survive, they would have to be married to someone who is rich. For the second eldest daughter Elizabeth, it's an idea she doesn't really like. After the family is invited to a party, Elizabeth is introduced to the quiet, arrogant Mr. Darcy who is accompanied by Mr. Charles Bingley (Simon Woods) and his sister Caroline (Kelly Reilly). Elizabeth's older sister Jane (Rosamund Pike) is feeling very attracted to Mr. Bingley while Mrs. Bennett introduces the rest of the clan that includes the quiet and introverted Mary (Talulah Riley), the giddy and excitable Kitty (Carey Mulligan), and the youngest yet outgoing of the clan, Lydia (Jena Malone).

While Jane has fallen for Mr. Bingley, she is invited to meet with him more though despite being ill during her rainy trip. Elizabeth decides to meet Bingley where she finds herself not at odds with Bingley's snobbish sister but also the more prideful Mr. Darcy. Still with her sisters desire to be married, Elizabeth finds herself being courted by a young pastor named William Collins (Tom Hollander). Then during a trip to London with her sisters, Elizabeth finds herself attracted to a militia officer named Mr. Wickham (Rupert Friend) who knows Mr. Darcy despite a falling-out. After another party where she's forced to contend with Mr. Darcy and the courting of Collins, Collins proposes marriage to Elizabeth but refuses. Mrs. Bennett is upset at the situation as she tries to set up the engagement as in the end, Collins weds Elizabeth's best friend Charlotte (Claudie Blakley).

After realizing that Collins was more well-meaning while visiting Charlotte, Elizabeth joins the wedded couple to a dinner held by Lady Catherine de Bourgh (Judi Dench), who is the aunt of Mr. Darcy. Mr. Darcy is also at the dinner where despite his aunt's social prejudice, he becomes impressed by how Elizabeth manages to hold herself. When Elizabeth learns that Mr. Darcy tried to break the possible engagement of Jane and Mr. Bingley, she becomes very angry at him as Darcy tries to explain himself and professing his love for her. After a tiring period, Elizabeth decides to visit her relatives Mr. Gardiner (Peter Wight) and his wife (Penelope Wilton) where they visit the renovated Darcy home where Elizabeth runs into Mr. Darcy again as well as meeting his sister Georgianna (Tazmin Merchant).

While dealing with Darcy's behavior, Elizabeth decides to come to distressing news of Lydia running away to marry Wickham. Even after learning of the real nature of his falling out with Darcy, Darcy ended up giving in despite Elizabeth’s protests to the chagrin of her mother. When Elizabeth contending her feelings for Darcy and vice versa, she tries to confront herself about her own pride and prejudices about him as she tries to find way to satisfy herself and her family.

While adaptations are tricky to pull, especially a Jane Austen novel. Another issue is the many versions that came out where the most notable to rival in terms of purists is the 1995 miniseries. Still, Joe Wright along with screenwriter Deborah Moggach remain very faithful to the entire novel though its understandable that purists will be upset on what was cut. What really is surprising about the film for newcomers is the style of dialogue and the language its spoken where it is very rich within every word that gives the script a true sense of authenticity.

Even Joe Wright's directing that features epic film movements does some fantastic work with the camera movements as it focuses not on just the relationship of Darcy and Elizabeth but giving the smallest characters a moment to shine. Overall, the directing is very spot-on and proves itself to be very true to what Austen wanted. It's romantic, intelligent, deals with social issues, and it's also funny.

Helping Wright in his visual scope is cinematographer Roman Osin who does not just amazing work in giving the film an epic look in many of the exterior scenes but also some great lighting techniques in the film's night, interior scenes. Osin's work is gorgeous in giving the film the right look. Production designer Sarah Greenwood and supervising art director Ian Bailie also do great work in getting many of the film's interiors of housing, poor and rich to look and feel right that helps set the atmosphere. Especially some of the locations and the houses that got used which are wonderfully used to a great extent. Costume designer Jacqueline Durran also deserves great commendation for her work on the costumes, especially in the ball scenes where they all look very beautiful for all the women in the film. Editor Paul Tothill also brings in some nice cutting styles and giving the film a nice pace at a bit over two-hours where it doesn't feel slow or moves to fast. Just very leisurely.

The music of the film features not just old piano tunes of the day from those times but also the piano is used very proficiently into giving the story a sense of atmosphere or as some kind of emotional outlet, notably with the character of Mary Bennett. Even the orchestral score by Dario Marianelli helps convey that atmosphere while music supervisor Nick Angel also picks the right pieces for the film, even if they're performed imperfectly. It's a wonderfully rich film score that has memorable moments but plays more into conveying the tone of the story.

Now previous castings in film versions of Pride & Prejudice has been crucial in terms of giving the right notes and style of dialogue in the film. This cast for this version of the film is well-executed in every detail. Carey Mulligan is excellent as the naive, excitable Kitty while Talulah Riley is also brilliant as the more introverted Mary who has a great scene playing a piano which she messes up only to be comforted by her father. Peter Wight and Penelope Wilton are also good as Elizabeth's well-meaning relatives as well as Tazmin Merchant in her small role as Darcy's sister and Kelly Reilly as Bingley's snobbish sister. Claudie Blakley is also wonderful in her role as Charlotte, Elizabeth's best friend who gives good reasons into marrying Mr. Collins. Rupert Friend is good as the dashing but ambiguous Wickham while Simon Woods is wonderfully funny as Bingley.

Tom Hollander is a real standout as the well-meaning but naive Mr. Collins where he brings out many of the film’s laughs in a very straight manner as he delves into that role perfectly. Judi Dench is also great with her authority-driven presence where everything she says is really offensive in terms of its social standings while wanting to maintain control in her rich world only to receive a cold dose of reality. It's a great performance by the always wonderful Judi Dench. Jena Malone is perfect in her performance as what some would call the proto-teenybopper of Lydia. Malone manages to standout in every scene she's in while stealing the show from her co-stars including at one moment, Miss Knightley (where in reality, Malone is a year older than Knightley) as she plays up to all the selfishness and energy that Lydia provides. Rosamund Pike is also brilliant in her understated, anguished performance as the eldest Jane who had a chance for love only to have it taken away. Pike really provides the sisterly companionship to Knightley as she manages to give an amazing performance.

Donald Sutherland is outstanding in his role as the soft-spoken but open-minded Mr. Bennett as he provides the comfort that every child needs with their father while maintaining his role as the head of the family. Sutherland really conveys the freedom that Elizabeth needs as he and Knightley have great scenes together as it's a great role for the longtime veteran actor who has worked with the likes of Robert Altman and Fellini. Brenda Blethyn is perfect in her role as Mrs. Bennett where she not only has great scenes with the young actresses and great chemistry with Sutherland. She really provides a lot of the comic backbone of the film with her emotional outbursts, her desire to have her daughters married, and her necessity to fit in with the upper-class. There's never a moment where Blethyn gives a bad performance as her timing in comedy is just perfect in every note.

In the role of Mr. Darcy, Matthew McFayden must've had to live up to a lot of expectations where the role was played previously by Laurence Olivier and most of all, Colin Firth. McFayden however succeeds while having great chemistry with Knightley.  Even as McFayden provides the right sense of melancholia and pride into a character that is complex and vulnerable. It's a true breakthrough performance from Matthew McFayden.

In what is definitely the best performance of career so far, Keira Knightley does an amazing job as Elizabeth Bennet. Knightley brings the angst, rebellion, torment, and stubborn side of Elizabeth Bennett in every way while making her character grow. Knightley proves herself to be a very strong, dramatic actress while dabbling in a bit of humor but using her words and her feelings to bring that character to life. It's truly her best performance in many ways since her credibility as an actress is often overshadowed by extravagant action films.

While it may not live up to previous variations of the novel, the new version of Pride & Prejudice is an excellent film thanks to Joe Wright's direction and faithfulness to the novel led by a superb cast. Fans of Keira Knightley will be glad to see the actress display her talents while being supported by the likes of Matthew McFayden, Donald Sutherland, Brenda Blethyn, Jena Malone, Rosamund Pike, Tom Hollander, and Judi Dench. Another good thing that the film will do for those who had interest in Austen will not only make those new to her work interested in her films but also the novels themselves. In the end, for a good romantic film that is needed for the holidays in a flurry of weightless fluffs, Pride & Prejudice is the film to see.

Joe Wright Films: Atonement - The Soloist - Hanna - Anna Karenina

(C) thevoid99 2011