To Walk Invisible

The title: To Walk Invisible: The Bronte SISTERS. The tagline: "How against all odds, were the Brontes recognized in a male-dominated 19th-century world?"

So why is that ironic? Because this movie which was purported to be about three amazing women writers who wrote timeless literature was completely dwarfed by their brother's story.

We got to see Branwell traveling, seeing friends, rambling around drunkenly, coughing blood, having halucinations, yelling at family members, etc. Each of the characters including the random friend of Charlotte's had to discuss Branwell at some point.

I would have liked to have seen more with the sisters. What about including a scene with Anne and Charlotte at the Opera after they actually WERE recognized by their publishers?! How about showing the death of Emily? Anne dying the next year? Charlotte becoming a celebrated author without her siblings? Their poor father outliving them all?

Nope! Branwell is gone! This story revolved around him-so now it is over!!

In fact, Branwell's death was the climax of the entire film with the sisters' fates as an afterthought scroll after his death, and right before the inexplicable swooping commercial for the Bronte museum gift shop.

Perhaps the male-dominated world hasn't changed as much from the 19th century as we think. At least when it comes to this production.

I was not excited to see it, because I have had no idea about whose biopic was this. I did not bother to know everything before giving it a try. One of the reason was, I usually enjoy most of the BBC films. I knew it was a period drama and about some famous writers. So, when I saw the very first scene, as kids running around with flames on their heads, I thought it would be some kind of a fantasy film. That was that, in the next minute, it became a different film. For a tale like this, it was a great opening scene. A perfect clue for the viewers what's coming in the latter part of the story.

Those four kids are the siblings and the story takes place in the mid 19th century England. Revolves around the Bronte family living in a small town, majorly focused on the three sisters in the span of three years, the most important years of their lives. Motherless children, grown to adulthood, they struggle to keep the family name honourly in the community. Their only hope is their brother who supposed to be a successful writer is now at worst as his doomed romance has taken him down with.

As I know those eras were, particularly the women, it's about marrying at the young age and settling down with the husband. I don't know the actual reason why those sisters remained unmarried, but I have a couple of perspective in my mind, that might be inappropriate to say out, yet the film kind of breaks the stereotype of women of those times. I blame their father, as well as their brother, but still these sisters are one of the greatest historic figures I've come to learn about.

It's the time the three sisters to make some quick decisions. At the beginning, it stumbles upon them, but very soon they overcome and takes the responsibility since they are very enthusiast in the literature work. At present, we're witnessing the rise of voice against the gender inequality in society all over the world in all the fields. Even the last week, Elizabeth Banks falsely accused the Steven Spielberg for the same reason. In this film, it was not exactly a fight or protest against such discrimination in society. Though their contribution, their achievement was the beginning of the new path for women of those eras and onwards.

They took paper and pen, and began to express the reality of the society in words rather to focus on the trend in literature subjects. Then came the publication. Even newbie men would struggle on that phase. It was one of the best juncture in this storytelling. Their struggle is not merely to turn their work into a book, but the family, especially their brother who was drifting away from everything posed a great challenge to them to look after him. And so their aging father.

When the film enters the third act, there are more twist and turns in the tale. Throughout, there were lots of ups and downs in the narration. Suddenly there comes an interesting scene and then for next 5-10 minutes falls back with a casual life event. Great screenplay and dialogues. The music was even better and suitable to the tale. The locations were beautiful, especially if you love chilly English weather and the countryside hilly views. One of the best depiction of the 19th century in a film. A special awards should be given to the set decoration. After watching the film, I browsed about that on the net and I stunned. The production quality was a genius, particularly for a television film.

Amazing casting. I should praise the director who also wrote for it. He's originally a writer who worked with some great television shows, and now this is his first film directional debut. One of the scenes about the original identity at close to the end of the film was really a goosebump part. It all depends how you yourself dissolve in the narration. I thought it was too short, even though it ran for two hours. That's why I wished it should have been a television series, to I stay with it for a little longer.

A perfect title, I loved everything about the film. The costumes were simple, but very good. And the film was very emotional at the end, to learn what happened to those three sisters. The filmmakers avoided that sentimental part, but I would have liked if they had covered them visually than the texts. Then it would have been one of the best tearjerker and then more family audiences would have jumped in to watch.

Sometimes, it's very satisfying to learn about how those masterpieces were made than reading and watching those masterpiece books and films respectively. Now it's in the line of 'Finding Nevreland', 'Saving Mr. Banks' and a few others that revealed the truth behind the great works. My only disappointment was, it should have been either a theatrical film or a television series. No offense, all the actors were so awesome in this film. Those three sisters stole the show. It was a powerful performance I've seen in the recent time. But a big screen film with popular stars would help reach the product widely.

This is now one of my favourite films of all time. We watch films often, but some people occasionally, even though we won't end up watching masterpiece all the time. It's a rare thing and this is one them. If you are interested in literature, biography, history or seeking an inspiration, this is the film to go for. Since I watched it, I could not take off the memories of the film and focus on other things. Really, it made my day and the whole week. So it's a two thumbs up high in the air from me. Highly recommended.

9.5/10

This film feels to me like THE depiction of the Brontes for our age. It is compelling each time I watch it (3 times now). I found the approach to a "historical" period so refreshingly vibrant and earthy as well as being strikingly filmed it's almost like a hyper real rendition of the time rather than the chocolate box visions we are often given. I've noticed a theme in several reviews asking why the film is so focused on Bramwell, when it is supposed to w about the women? I HATE it when this male centric approach to EVERYTHING happens due to our still malecentric world. However in this film's case I think it was exactly right and was used as a tool to show how very dependent the women were on the men in their lives. The users were safe while their father was alive, but having no legal right to hold property or money of their own their lives were in peril due to the solipsistic self destructiveness of their brother. In stead of showing 3 insipid women relying on men as is usual it showed 3 strong intelligent women whose social status and wealth were manacled to Bramwell's with no recourse to their independence. So I think to say the film focused on him too much is to miss the point Sally Wainwright was making. A couple of American reviewers have said they could not understand the film and to them I would say: put the subtitles on. The film uses northern dialect/accent as would have been spoken (and still is). If the characters spoke received pronunciation it would have sounded ridiculous and lost some of its heart. To take a reverse example I loved "The Wire" but in the beginning found I could not understand half of what was said, subtitles allowed me to enjoy it without it being artificially "smoothed" for general viewing. So basically I think this film is excellent. I loved the very end sequence of transition too. It made me feel so close to the characters.

It is beyond me why they spent so much time filming Bramwell when the title indicates that the movie is about the sisters. While I enjoyed it, having visited the home and pub, I wanted much more about the sisters. Seemed a little glossed over. Actresses were good, just wanted more about the sisters. Lovely story about these very talented ladies.

To Walk Invisible: The Brontë Sisters (2016 TV Movie) was written and directed by Sally Wainwright.

The history of the Brontë sisters is fascinating, and certainly worth a great movie. This isn't that movie.

Branwell Brontë was a wastrel and an alcoholic. Surely his behavior was detrimental to the life and career of each of his sisters. However, director Wainwright clearly became fascinated with Branwell, and the movie is really his biopic.

Adam Nagaitis, who portrays Branwell, is an excellent actor. He inhabits the role, and it is a pleasure to watch him act.

However, the subtitle of this film is "The Brontë Sisters." In fact, they all play a supporting role to their brother.

If you want to know more about Charlotte, Anne, and Emily Brontë, you will have to check Wikipedia. This movie won't help much.

The film has a solid IMDb rating of 7.4. I didn't think it was nearly that good, and rated it 6.