A Quiet Passion

Early on in Terence Davies' A Quiet Passion, it's established that Emily Dickinson was way ahead of her time. She expresses little interest in being pious or a dutiful wife. Instead, much of her time is devoted to her poetry (even if it's published anonymously) and speaking her mind.

As Davies also showed with The House of Mirth and The Deep Blue Sea, A Quiet Passion shows how the fair sex was anything but. While Lily Bart lost her social standing and Hester Collyer the men she loved, with Emily she loses those close to her be it through marriage, death or her own sharp tongue. In short, it seems that Davies is fascinated by imperfect women leading tragic lives.

That's not to say A Quiet Passion is a somber picture from beginning to end. There are exchanges throughout Davies' script that would make the likes of Jane Austen and Oscar Wilde proud. (Speaking of which, why hasn't Davies adapted Austen yet?) It's a point driven home further with nearly every line from Vryling Wilder Buffum (Catherine Bailey).

Back to Cynthia Nixon for a moment. More associated with Sex and the City, she has in recent years proven her worth beyond the cult television series. And her work in A Quiet Passion continues to solidify this claim. Hopefully it's a performance that won't be forgotten in the years to come.

A Quiet Passion is a portrait of a woman whose self-isolation both influenced and crippled her work. As Davies also showed with The Long Day Closes, he shows one's contained life of simple pleasures, unrequited desires and familial bonds (the level of closeness varying between the works). But all in toll, it's a story of someone with immense loneliness.

My Rating: ****1/2

The Long Day Closes

Every now and again, creators of various media present their audiences with something of a more personal nature. Authors write their memoirs with candid details. Actors do performances that heavily parallel their own lives. And directors frequently insert such details into their films.

With Terence Davies' The Long Day Closes, it becomes clear early on that this will be the most personally intimate work of his oeuvre. Set in 1950s Liverpool, Davies depicts a story of childhood and the world surrounding it. It's a world of family, religion, and escape from reality.

This being an autobiographical work, Davies invokes elements from his own upbringing. He mentions coming to terms with his sexuality, his family's religious beliefs, and his regular trips to the cinema. Indeed many directors before and since The Long Day Closes put personal details in their films but Davies' touch makes it feel more genuine.

And there are those who seek out similar escapes to what Davies did all those years ago. There are those who dealt with the brunt of bullying when they were growing up, something that can leave an indelible mark on one's psyche. And as shown throughout The Long Day Closes, they find refuge in worlds of fiction.

The Long Day Closes is a testament to those who simply drift through day-to-day life. They don't live in the moment; they go and hope for that someone to find and understand them. But as is the case with most things in life, sometimes, you just have to wait.

My Rating: ****1/2

BOOK VS MOVIE: The House of Mirth

In a drastic situation, one's true nature has the tendency to emerge. Whether a bitter person is actually quite sad or a meek person is more calculating than they appear, it can be a nice twist to the story.

Look at Lily Bart from The House of Mirth. Here is a woman that was raised to embrace wealth to the fullest and sabotages any chance of her leading a happy life. Then she becomes a target of a scandal in her social circle, and she realizes how self-centered New York high society really is.

Edith Wharton's novel has Lily speak with an air of arrogant grandiose from time to time. Alas, this is also present throughout the novel's general narration. You could view it as Wharton's way of conveying high society's true nature but all I saw was merely Wharton trying to sound impressive. (Then again, the novel is more or less from Lily's perspective, but still.)

Terence Davies' film captures both the opulence and flaws of Wharton's novel. And yet Davies manages to overcome Wharton's exuberant descriptions to make a mostly solid film. (The main selling point is Gillian Anderson in a role as far from The X-Files as possible.)

I wasn't won over by either the novel or the film very much but I will admit I was more fond of one than the other. The pluses and the negatives for both are relatively the same but it's not as severe in one. (Though I essentially stated which one it is.)

What's worth checking out?: The movie.

The Deep Blue Sea

There's a perpetual sadness in the face of Hester Collyer (Rachel Weisz) that lingers throughout Terence Davies' The Deep Blue Sea. It's very evident when she's with her husband William (Simon Russell Beale). Even when she's with her lover Freddie Page (Tom Hiddleston) she has that look, no matter how happy she appears.

The audience never particularly learns of why Hester became unfaithful to her husband. My theory is that the thought of being married to a man old enough to be her father was getting more unappealing with each passing day. She wanted someone who was young and exciting, not old and dull. She finds that and more in Freddie but as time wears on, cracks appear.

The acting is superb. The searing look of betrayal on Beale's face as William learns of Hester's infidelity and in scenes afterwards is haunting. Hiddleston goes through a number of emotions throughout the duration of the film, never overdoing any of them, rendering him an actor to keep an eye on. But this show belongs to Weisz. Her layered performance is what awards recognition is made of, the very thing I hope she gets.

Much like the use of muted colors in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Deep Blue Sea uses dull shades to emphasize the film's mood. Davies wants there to be no bright colors to lower the mood. (Even Hester's blood red overcoat looks drab.) The use of harsh incandescent lighting is also used to capture this feeling.

There are problems with the pacing but that aside, The Deep Blue Sea is a fantastic film. Not many films focus on a broken romance as well as this. Weisz, Hiddleston and Beale are great in this anti-romantic film.

My Rating: ****1/2