Sur la plage de Chesil

Edward and florence have both just gotten their uni degrees. They fall in love and get married. But they have very different personalities; florence appears so strong and confident, but has her own unspoken past to deal with. Edward is still very young and innocent, and lacks florence's headstrong manner. This story is about how they handle their various issues. Edward seems to be overwhelmed by his own situation at home. Throw in a proud, stubborn streak, and his own inexperience, sexually. Like most young and foolish newlyweds, they don't really communicate properly. Anger and pride keep them both from listening and understanding. The actors do a great job, but it gets quite bleak and dark. Some beautiful scenery of dorset area. And snippets of beautiful classical music, as that is florence's profession. Directed by dominic cooke. Story by ian mcewan.

"Little lamb, Here I am; Come and lick My white neck; Let me pull Your soft wool; Let me kiss Your soft face; Merrily, merrily we welcome in the year." William Blake, from Songs of Innocence Set in 1962, On Chesil Beach is far from 1963 Beach Party with Frankie Avalon and other pre sexual revolution aquatic shenanigans. Chesil is a tightly-wound story of a young Brit couple, Florence (Saoirse Ronan) and Edward (Billy Howle), just married and beyond awkward on the wedding night: dangerously innocent. It's not a comedy, for most of the film is framed by their uncertain movements as he tries to loosen her up (a major challenge) and she tries to get in the mood. Based on a novel and screenplay by the great Ian McEwan, this dramatic romance crystallizes the damaging innocence of the times and the dire need for experience. While 21st-century easy hookup time is not ideal, the danger of being clueless about the power of sex and its mandates is palpable in this star-crossed story. Florence, an upper-middle class musician with a fledgling quartet, is both the scourge of Edward's hopes to be a successful husband and the hope for their love that tries to transcend sexuality. Mozart laces throughout to elevate Darwinian love making, reminding of the ethereal heights to which art can elevate love. Yes, it's a beautifully melancholic romance whose future is endangered by present repressive times, a legacy those of us know well who were taught about the opposite sex by tyrannical and ignorant clericals, who had never been married and were usually virgins. So much is set on the beach with flashbacks to help us understand the demons that it is easy to see the future through the repression of the present. Much of the movie moves through the awkward attempt at first sex, pristine by contemporary standards. Yet, that discomfort is necessary to understand the uncompromising fate of the couple and the tears that will inevitably come. Regardless of where anyone is now, this powerful love story reminds of how deeply we are indebted to sex and how treating it casually or ignorantly inevitably leads to lives of desperation. Although at times On Chesil beach echoes the delicacy of love in Call Me By Your Name and at others by the talk of Richard Linklater's Before series, this romance evokes the innocence of first love and the ruthlessness of experience. Beautifully photographed by Sean Bobbitt, Chesil still owes most of its greatness to Dominic Cooke's direction, where the harshness of failed expectations is tempered by a love that transcends, but cannot denounce, sex. "Break this heavy chain, That does freeze my bones around! Selfish, vain, Eternal bane, That free love with bondage bound." Blake, Songs of Experience

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.

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.

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