Reviews

Douglas Booth made an utterly stunning and very watchable Boy George, capturing his sharp witted and ultimately rather romantic character without ever resorting to campness or cliché. I enjoyed this drama for the gorgeous recreation of what must have been a fascinating time in London's cultural history and the fabulous design of the costumes and sets. But even though the dialogue at times sparkled (special mention here for Freddie Fox playing a magnificent Marilyn) it was rather a case of style over substance. The story just felt very thin and although there were some surprisingly touching moments (with Kirk as well as John Moss) there just didn't seem enough story here to sustain an hour and a half. I felt the addict section of the story really limped along and felt underdeveloped and unnecessary in particular. However they did a good job of making the characters engaging and likable and for that reason it was worth the hour and a half spent with them. I just would have liked to have seen a bit more of events, and also a bit more about George's motivations - what made him who he was.

I saw this film tonight, and in my eyes, it is a perfect film. Beautifully acted by all involved, (several times during the film I found myself thinking 'Abby Cornish is amazing!", despite not being a huge fan before), and stunningly shot, it contains some of the most beautifully cinematic scenes i have ever seen committed to film. Campion does a wonderful job of communicating Fanny' emotional state through the composition, particularly in one scene where the wind is blowing the curtain in her bedroom. The light and colour are fresh and gorgeous and the costumes and design add to the overall piece without being distracting, which is just what you want from a period piece.

But in the end, it is above all a wonderful story, well told. A deeply romantic tale, the story of Fanny and Keats could easily have become a mawkish, overly sentimental piece. But through her wonderfully naturalistic dialogue, her use of humour and light touch, and her restrained story telling (she never lets a scene go on one line too long) Jane Campion has created a heart wrenching film which I cannot fault. The characters are real and fully rounded, you feel the joys and the pain with them, and where I think she really succeeds is by making their love affair extraordinary and yet at the same time deeply ordinary. It stirred up my own personal experiences of love and loss and you would have to have a heart of stone not to shed a tear at the end. Lovely lovely film, and what cinema should be all about.

I watched this film as I had recently seen the stage version and enjoyed it immensely. Although I'm not sure whether 'enjoyed' is quite the right word for this film. The production is wonderful and Meryl Streep gives a stand out performance at the helm of a consistently excellent cast. But it is really David Hare's wonderful screenplay which makes this such a moving experience. The portrayal of a woman with such hopes for life, who is then so relentlessly disappointed is, at times, painful to watch. What really makes the film for me is that Susan is not portrayed as a hero, a visionary, misunderstood by all those around her in her incessant struggle for truth and freedom. In fact, she is often portrayed as selfish, cruel and at its bleakest, pathetic. Hare never shies away from presenting the consequences of Susan's desperate, and in the end, fruitless search for her own kind of happiness and it is this that gives the story its brutal realism. Her apparent moral superiority over Raymond and those like him and their inferior brand of 'happiness', in the end proves to be hollow as we see her descent into self degradation and loss of self-respect. So it seems there is no solution. This is not a film which provides easy answers or a happy ending. Its message is, at heart, profoundly depressing, for people like Susan at least. However I think the film is as relevant today as ever, as a comment on today's increasingly shallow and superficial culture, and the feeling of discontent that many young people experience in attempts to find a deeper meaning. But it is an excellent film with humour injected throughout (I particularly enjoyed Tracey Ulman's performance in the first half of the film) and the dialogue is consistently sharp and intelligent. Definitely one to be watched.