niblungen
Joined Jan 2003
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niblungen's rating
This film is one of those small but delicious productions in modern european film industry that makes it worth to continue going to the cinema. It is the film version of a Scottish theatre production, that did run with the same basic cast.
There is no main plot. It is the summing up of four basic stories which are somewhat interwoven, describing the relationships between very different human beings.
The Scottish winter, framing all the story, is almost a character of its own. You can almost sense the ice, the intense coldness around the characters, but you altogether feel the warmth of human emotions.
The actors are all outstanding in their characters. Above all others, Phyllida Law and Emma Thompson (real life mother and daughter) give a very powerful performance, portraying a depressed recent widow and her energetic and controlling mother: really a charming old lady.
The great Alan Rickman's direction is in my opinion a very good job, bringing all the different stories together and making a magnificent choral film.
I eagerly look forward to his next attempt in directorial tasks.
There is no main plot. It is the summing up of four basic stories which are somewhat interwoven, describing the relationships between very different human beings.
The Scottish winter, framing all the story, is almost a character of its own. You can almost sense the ice, the intense coldness around the characters, but you altogether feel the warmth of human emotions.
The actors are all outstanding in their characters. Above all others, Phyllida Law and Emma Thompson (real life mother and daughter) give a very powerful performance, portraying a depressed recent widow and her energetic and controlling mother: really a charming old lady.
The great Alan Rickman's direction is in my opinion a very good job, bringing all the different stories together and making a magnificent choral film.
I eagerly look forward to his next attempt in directorial tasks.
Bette Davis is probably one of the greatest actresses of all time, and it is really outstanding that a Massachusetts lady can break all cultural barriers and incarnate an English Queen to such a degree of perfection. I really enjoyed her performance.
The rest of the cast is just acceptable. Richard Todd is handsome and the young Joan Collins is beatiful to watch. The costumes and settings are carefully reproduced, and Koster's direction is profesional. The dialogues are wonderfully written, though the story is not quite historically accurate.
By the way, the European VHS edition is simply disgusting: the film is cut to fit the normal TV screen 4:3, leaving out vital parts of it. For example, in a scene between Sir Walter Raleigh (Todd) and Bess Throckmorton (Collins), they are standing the one in front of the other at both sides of a huge paned window: the only thing you can see on screen is the window, while you hear both talking! A new DVD edition would be most welcome.
The rest of the cast is just acceptable. Richard Todd is handsome and the young Joan Collins is beatiful to watch. The costumes and settings are carefully reproduced, and Koster's direction is profesional. The dialogues are wonderfully written, though the story is not quite historically accurate.
By the way, the European VHS edition is simply disgusting: the film is cut to fit the normal TV screen 4:3, leaving out vital parts of it. For example, in a scene between Sir Walter Raleigh (Todd) and Bess Throckmorton (Collins), they are standing the one in front of the other at both sides of a huge paned window: the only thing you can see on screen is the window, while you hear both talking! A new DVD edition would be most welcome.