Na Praia de Chesil

Saw this at the London Film Festival. Saoirse Ronan and Billy Howle enter the perilous territory of marriage in a slow, sleek coming-of-age story adapted from Ian McEwan's 2007 novel. I found the cinematography to be superb, the play of colours very well done in accordance to the mood. I wish there had been more development near the end, but the film was sufficiently beguiling to give it a 7/10.

On Chesil Beach: The film opens with Florence (Saoirse Ronan) and Edward (Billy Howle) strolling along the eponymous beach, they have just been married that day. Returning to their hotel room a pair of piss taking waiters insist on hanging around serving the silver service meal. This adds to the couples nervousness as both seem to be inexperienced sexually which apparently wasn't unusual for university graduates in the UK in 1962.

There then follows a series of flashbacks, not in chronological order, as the attempt to consummate the marriage continues. They first met at a CND meeting in Oxford, Edward wandered in literally by accident but it was love at first sight. Not at all corny, you can literally see Cupid's Arrows crossing the room. Florence offers Edward a booklet on the likely results of a H-Bomb hitting Oxford, Edward says it sounds like a good idea.

Florence has a first in Music from Oxford, Edward's first is in History from UCL This makes Florence's mother Violet (Emily Watson) wonder if his parents are from a tradesman background and her factory owner father Geoffrey (Samuel West) is equally snobby albeit in a more restrained manner. Edward's father Lionel (Adrian Scarborough) is an engineer and his mother Marjorie (Anne-Marie Duff) is an artist but suffers from an acquired brain injury and is prone to acting unpredictably.

There is some good acting especially by Anne-Marie Duff but the thespians are hampered by a screenplay which hasn't been fully translated from novel to film, even though novelist Ian McEwan has written the adaptation. The chopped up nature of the flashbacks in this instance also hamper the development of a coherent narrative. This is still a touching story of love blighted by inexperience with some dark secrets also implied in the background. 7/10.

I love Saoirse Ronan so much, just like everyone else in the universe should. She's a supremely talented actress and I knew I had to see this film as soon as I could. On Chesil Beach is a film made by a first time director in Dominic Cooke. The film also reunites Billy Howle and Ronan, after starring in The Seagull (which came out a week ago as it is). So Saoirse Ronan month continues and On Chesil Beach was definitely enjoyable. The film is a little different than I expected but is a satisfying experience.

The film is about two young people who get married and are anxious about consummating for the very first time. It turns out having sexual intercourse has really big implications on their present relationship and what their future holds for them as well. The film utilizes flashbacks within present time and then flashes to the future so that we can see the two leads in different times of their life and how their lives coincide at each step.

Saoirse Ronan is typically fantastic in this. She's such a talent in everything she's in and her raw emotion and hesitation in committing to a physical relationship is portrayed with a delicate confidence. The film is sharply written, although it falters a few steps of the way. Its a different type of story focused on a physical experience that usually doesn't matter to this extent in other films. The film's last twenty minutes are really well done and bring the picture together. We've all kind of been there with the first time so its easy to relate and know the nervousness involved by both parties.

The cinematography is fantastic, especially when it comes to life on the extended scene at the beach. Costumes design and set design are also up to par. The film presents itself with grace and poise. The film will make a name out of Billy Howle and Dominic Cooke. Cooke seems like an experienced filmmaker and he can only grow from here. I will obviously continue to follow Saoirse's films like a lost puppy in the hopes that she is finally rewarded with an Academy Award.

7/10

Set against Dorset's spectacular shingle bank of Chesil Beach (which is a bitch to walk along!) the story, set primarily in 1962, joins two newly-weds Florence (Saoirse Ronan, "Brooklyn", "Lady Bird") and Edward (Billy Howle, "Dunkirk") about to embark on the sexual adventure of their conjugation at a seaside hotel. The timing of the film is critical: 1962 really marked the watershed between the staid conservatism and goody-two-shoes-ness of the 50's and the sexual liberation of the swinging sixties. Sex before marriage was frowned upon. The problem for Florence and Edward is that sex after marriage is looking pretty unlikely too! For the inexperienced couple have more hang-ups about sex than there are pebbles on the beach.

The lead-up to their union is squirm-inducing to watch: a silent silver-service meal in their room; incompetent fumbling with zippers; shoes that refuse to come off. To prolong the agony for the viewer, we work through flashbacks of their first meeting at Oxford University and their disfunctional family lives: for Florence a bullying father and mother (Samuel West and Emily Watson) and for Edward a loving but stressed father (TV regular, Adrian Scarborough) but mentally impaired mother (Anne-Marie Duff, "Suffragette", "Before I Go To Sleep").

As Ian McEwan is known to do (as per the end of "Atonement" for example), there are a couple of clever "Oh My God" twists in the tale: one merely hinted at in flashback; another involving a record-buying child that is also unresolved but begs a massive question.

The first half of the film is undoubtedly better than the last: while the screenplay is going for the "if only" twist of films like "Sliding Doors" and "La La Land", the film over-stretches with some dodgy make-up where alternative actors would have been a far better choice. The ending still had the power to move me though.

Saoirse Ronan is magnificent: I don't think I've seen the young Irish-American in a film I didn't enjoy. Here she is back with a McEwan adaptation again and bleeds discomfort with every line of her face. Her desperate longing to talk to someone - such as the kindly probing vicar - is constantly counteracted by her shame and embarassment. Howle also holds his own well (no pun intended) but when up against the acting tour de force of Ronan he is always going to appear in second place.

A brave performance comes from Anne-Marie Duff who shines as the mentally wayward mother. The flashback where we see how she came to be that way is wholly predicatable but still manages to shock. And Duff is part of a strong ensemble cast who all do their bit.

Another star of the show for me is the photography by Sean Bobbitt ("12 Years a Slave") which portrays the windswept Dorset beach beautifully but manages to get the frame close and claustrophobic when it needs to be. Wide panoramas with characters barely on the left and right of the frame will play havoc with DVD ratios on TV, but work superbly on the big screen.

Directed by stage-director Dominic Cooke, in his movie-directing debut, this is a brave story to try to move from page to screen and while it is not without faults it is a ball-achingly sad tale that moved me. Recommended if you enjoyed the similarly sad tale of "Atonement".

At times it felt very clunky and over complicated for no reason by the script and it was carried throughout by the once again spectacular Saoirse Ronan but the film just about gets across what it's trying to achieve without achieving the maximum effect it could have. A reasonable watch but nothing amazing.