This was a very nice little film - like many British films it took a familiar story - stuck in some very recognisable actors (Jacobi, Suchet, Walters, Coltrane, Thompson & Wise) flung in some attractive newcomers, paid vast attention to production values - and voila!
It was very enjoyable...it's a well known story of course, so no surprises. Part of me wonders, why? I suppose the drama is in "can she stay in the marriage? how will she leave him?" (and was Lady Eastlake really so dramatic in her gestures and expressions as Emma T performs her?) However, the sense of drama is severely mitigated by a respectably straight telling of the tale. There is a slight sense of jeopardy at the end... but you know it's false.
I enjoyed it - it made me think about Ruskin again - whether he had a personality defect, was aspergic or what? (The amateur Freudian in me always enjoys these things) It also made me think - are these films being made in the same "educational spirit" as 1940s biopics - i.e. if no one makes a film about this sad marriage, no one will know about it.
I suppose the Ruskin marriage is a basic part of the culture - I heard about it as a child - and we must pass it on,. Is there anything edifying about it? No, it's just a scandal - I don't suppose Ruskin enjoyed the way he was - probably, given the choice, he would have liked to have a normal marriage... I am sure all the awful things he said in the film about women were probably direct quotes trawled from his letters etc. Does this story tell us anything heartening about the human condition...well, yes, that Millais was a jolly decent chap... and Effie was a Victorian woman who actually wanted to have sex (there is some sort of received opinion that no one enjoyed sex until WW2), is that enough? Actually, given the paucity of knowledge amongst schoolchildren and young people, it is probably an excellent thing - and the film should be put on the National Curriculum - along with the study of Millais' paintings, and Ruskin's writings - especially the socialist ones!
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| Effie Gray-Ruskin - Millais - by Millais |
It was very enjoyable...it's a well known story of course, so no surprises. Part of me wonders, why? I suppose the drama is in "can she stay in the marriage? how will she leave him?" (and was Lady Eastlake really so dramatic in her gestures and expressions as Emma T performs her?) However, the sense of drama is severely mitigated by a respectably straight telling of the tale. There is a slight sense of jeopardy at the end... but you know it's false.
I enjoyed it - it made me think about Ruskin again - whether he had a personality defect, was aspergic or what? (The amateur Freudian in me always enjoys these things) It also made me think - are these films being made in the same "educational spirit" as 1940s biopics - i.e. if no one makes a film about this sad marriage, no one will know about it.
I suppose the Ruskin marriage is a basic part of the culture - I heard about it as a child - and we must pass it on,. Is there anything edifying about it? No, it's just a scandal - I don't suppose Ruskin enjoyed the way he was - probably, given the choice, he would have liked to have a normal marriage... I am sure all the awful things he said in the film about women were probably direct quotes trawled from his letters etc. Does this story tell us anything heartening about the human condition...well, yes, that Millais was a jolly decent chap... and Effie was a Victorian woman who actually wanted to have sex (there is some sort of received opinion that no one enjoyed sex until WW2), is that enough? Actually, given the paucity of knowledge amongst schoolchildren and young people, it is probably an excellent thing - and the film should be put on the National Curriculum - along with the study of Millais' paintings, and Ruskin's writings - especially the socialist ones!
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