4/17/17
First takeaway: This isn't Derek Cianfrance, at least as far as I understand what that is. It's a relatively conventional period drama novel adaptation. The literary element is all too present.
Second takeaway: The movie is emotionally tumultuous, but not emotionally coherent. At least it's not emotionally coherent to the audience who've not read the source work. And in such an emotion-charged movie, coherence is vital so as not to leave the viewer in a state of disturbance and despair without payoff.
The novel must not be very interesting or masterful. The script certainly wasn't either.
I love watching these actors. But, while they were brilliant and beautiful from moment to moment, that is, in a physical sense, portraying each emotion exceptionally well and with striking beauty, they didn't create continuous, memorable characters. The characters were neither continuous nor memorable. This is partly a fault of the script, but I am sure the actors take some of the blame. Again, perhaps this is not a problem for those who have experienced the novel. But the movie must be judged to some degree on its own. I am interested in judging movies as whole works of art/entertainment, against a large audience of which I am a part, and not a small select group of people. I am not interested in reviewing this movie with respect to a class to which I do not belong.
For what it is worth to you, this movie did induce some intense emotions. This is partly due to my recent lifestyle, which is vacant of escapist indulgence and crafted realities for dramatic purposes. There are other reasons also. It was an unfortunate experience -- but I must credit the film for some of this. I wouldn't be devastated by a film for which I had no care and affection.
Additional notes discovered in archive:
She is beautiful and good-hearted and pure and will bring new joy and life to him. But she is not necessarily the strongest and firmest of characters. And two miscarriages makes her desperate. Absolutely desperate. He loves her and she has given him so much — she has absolutely brought him new life. In her mad desperation he cannot live with himself to not give her what she obviously deserves, and is begging for. Indeed, she certainly deserves the child. But perhaps it will bring her more pain and destruction than happiness and reward? He cannot imagine not giving her what she deserves and is so desperate for — and the probability of bad consequences is low; yes, in a non-fictional world he would have never seen the true parent. It is an odd miracle that he saw and went to examine the woman in the cemetery, and that their lives were linked otherwise. So he feels a whole compulsion to give her what she needs, and the likelihood of bad consequence is very low. He can hardly withstand her witchery anyway — and I am sympathetic to him.
The fault is on a great woman whose strength isn’t her strong will, and whose will is compromised by intense tragedy and misfortune — what wits she had are lost and she has rightful power over a man she saved, who has a better conscience but human limits of emotion.
