BBBB.5
(out of 5)
Tortuously uninspired in her marriage to an older judge (Simon Russell Beale) and madly in love with a young RAF pilot (Tom Hiddleston), Rachel Weisz gives up her posh trappings and goes to live in a drab bedsit with her lover in this sumptuous adaptation of the play by Terence Rattigan. Eventually she finds herself overcome with shame and despair when passion gives way to familiarity and neglect. Terence Davies once again returns to the setting of post-war England that has marked some of his best work for a study of the tempestuous feelings of romance that bring with them as much trauma as they do elation, a quiet, studied piece whose glowing spots of lamplight cast a gorgeous glow on the leads as they navigate between their feelings and their morals. In true British style, these characters are constantly desperate to get back to their polite rhetoric following expressions of love or rage; Weisz pours her heart out to her husband in begging him to understand why she cannot go back to him, then puts on her most proper tone to thank him for bringing her a birthday gift. Moments like these could have been done in a stiff, mawkish manner, but Davies sees the humour in even the darkest situations and gives so much truth to the changes in tone that the wonderful dialogue rings with sincerity and hits deep. A very subtle, poignant piece of work, helped along even more by the superb performances at the lead: Weisz’s darkly sexy mystique is as fascinating when raw as she is when resting on the veneer of social propriety; Hiddleston’s suavely handsome face and crisp, apple-cutting voice beautifully laces his boyish, boundless desire to get back to the days of war.
Camberwell / Fly Films, Film4, UK Film Council, Protagonist Pictures, Lipsync Productions, Artificial Eye, Fulcrum Media Finance
USA/United Kingdom, 2011
Directed by Terence Davies
Screenplay by Terence Davies, based on the play by Terence Rattigan
Cinematography by Florian Hoffmeister
Produced by Sean O’Connor, Kate Ogborn
Music by Samuel Barber
Production Design by James Merifield
Costume Design by Ruth Myers
Film Editing by David Charap
Film Festivals: TIFF 2011
Cast Tags: Ann Mitchell, Barbara Jefford, Harry Hadden-Paton, Jolyon Coy, Karl Johnson, Mark Tandy, Nicholas Amer, Oliver Ford Davies, Rachel Weisz, Sarah Kants, Simon Russell Beale, Stuart McLoughlin, Tom Hiddleston
Golden Globe Award Nomination
Best Performance By An Actress in a Motion Picture-Drama (Rachel Weisz)
New York Film Critics Award
Best Actress (Rachel Weisz)
Toronto Film Critics Award
Best Actress (Rachel Weisz)
