Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003)

Full Cast

Categories This Movie Fits Into

1) Independent Film. Period. OR Independent Period Film – It stars celebrities Colin Firth as Vermeer and Scarlet Johansson as Griet, but more and more of the Famous Folk are starring in low-budget films in recent years. The budget was 12 million, large for a UK-produced independent film, and raked in 31,466,789 million world-wide. So, basically, it’s nearer to a mainstream production than some independent films, but less than some others. It was recognized at the British Independent Film Awards (Best Actress Scarlett Johansson) and received much critical acclaim.

And how do you know it’s an independent film, despite its success? The awkward silences, the extended moments, and the other realistic touches that Hollywood smooths out of their films in order not to make the audience uncomfortable.

2) Meaningful Silence Film - This is a subtle film. Actors communicate more with their bodies than their lines, which leaves the characters and the viewer’s interpretation of them in the hands of the cast. I like to listen to films while I work, sometimes, as background noise and as audio entertainment. Pulp Fiction, for instance, is heavily reliant on script. That’s not so for this film. If you don’t watch, you will miss out on layers and layers of tension and meaning.

3) The Surprisingly Gifted Individual – Griet is artistically inclined, which only Vermeer and the viewer sees. She understands color, light, and even composition. She knows that clouds are not just “white,” is aware that dusting the windows can drastically change lighting, and knows that adding certain objects in a certain area in a painting can balance a composition (Griet: MUST. MOVE. CHAIR.) This is one of the reasons why Griet is useful to Vermeer and why she intrigues him. They share an eye for art, and Vermeer helps her develop that muscle.

(Griet considering composition)

http://moviesmedia.ign.com/movies/image/girlwithapearlearring-johannson1.jpg

4) The Other Guy… No Wait, That’s the Right Guy – A variation of the forbidden love trope. Examples of this would be situations where the guy is a teacher and the girl is a student, or one of the two is married. A necessity would be for them to CARE about the rules or the people that they would be betraying. Consequences might be hurting a spouse. Classic example: Guinevere and Lancelot.

However, this particular variation includes another guy (the Right guy) who is usually part of a subplot. He is the guy the girl should be with. He’s perfectly lovely: handsome, smart, and is enamored with her. In chick-flicks, he’s usually the guy who wishes her the best before handing her over to the main hero. In this case, the butcher’s son, Pieter, is the Right guy, and Vermeer is “the guy the girl wants.” However, the connection between Griet and Vermeer is more of an energy than an acted upon longing.

5) Sensory Film – This goes along with the film being very reliant on the actors and their decisions on how to portray their characters. The viewer uses all their senses to relate to what the characters are going through: sight, smell, taste, and sound. Color is important, texture is important, and the character’s experiences are important. When they smell something, we have our own memories of what that same object might smell like. Or, for instance, when the servant is talking about Van Ruijven getting a servant girl pregnant, and she’s slathering two featherless dead birds with butter. The slapping sound you hear contributes to the feeling you get from the story and from the person telling the story. This is one of the things that I enjoyed about the film. You relate to the action onscreen in many different ways.

The Cast

Colin Firth and Scarlet Johansson communicate so much with their bodies: their faces, their hands, their movements, etcetera. I give them both major props for carrying their characters so well, because for the film was heavily reliant on them. Although I am not a big fan of Johansson, she did nice work and, of course, Colin Firth is a joy as always. (Good job, Darcy.)

Overall

This is a serious, artistic drama with an ending that is more realistic than Hollywood. Worth the look if you’re in a pensive mood. AND, if you’re a fan of Vermeer, this could be very interesting for you. This film recreates the world of Vermeer and the world that might have existed outside his paintings.

Not to extend this too far by adding details I didn’t include in the text above, I also thought that the costuming and period sets were excellent. There were many browns, greens, and beiges, as was accurate for the servants, but it was still beautiful and crisp.

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YouTube It

The entire film is on YouTube. If you care to watch, here is the first vid.

A Hazard of Hearts (1987)

Hazard of Hearts (TV Movie)
Full Cast

Background Story

A virtuous heroine, a Byronic hero, a treacherous lecher, a bitchy witchy mother… this is in many ways a romance novel in movie-form (actually, that’s exactly what it is.) “Hazard of Hearts” was first a novel by Barbara Cartland, who was a well-known and extremely productive romance novelist and socialite. She lived a long time, from 1901 to 2000, and was actually the step-grandmother of Princess Diana.

I haven’t read Hazard of Hearts, but I have watched several other movies adapted from books by Dame Barbara Cartland, both of which were similar to Hazard of Hearts in plot and quality (and mysteriously star-studded.) These movies seemed to attract stars that are either at the beginnings or the ends of their careers.

"Duel of Hearts" (Michael York) and "The Lady and the Highwayman" (Hugh Grant)

In true 80s style, these three movies each feature dreadful, swelling soundtracks and melodramatic acting. I intend to get to both Duel of Hearts and the Lady and the Highwayman (which I found in a 100-movie pack, of all suitable places) and review the hell out of them. But they’ll probably look almost identical to this review in essence.

Plot Summary

The young maiden in question here is Serena Staverley (Helena Bonham-Carter). Her father is Sir Giles Staverley (Christopher Plummer), an irresponsible gambler who causes his family worry through his compulsive habits. He is just about to walk away from a game, when jerkass Lord Harry Wrotham (Edward Fox), goads him into one more game of dice.

The said jerkass has had plans to snatch Serena up since the first two minutes of the movie, and intends to “have her” despite the clear understanding that she would rather not have him. He has tremendous sexual-predator potential from the beginning. He maneuvers it so that, after he has robbed Sir Giles of everything he owns, he makes one last bet: marriage to Serena v. getting everything back. If jerkass wins, he marries Serena, and if Sir Giles wins, he gains back all that he has lost. If Staverley had won, the movie would have ended there, but he loses and leaves the room distraught. Congratulations, Lord Jackass! Here are your prizes!

*drum roll* We have, behind door #1, STAVERLEY COURT:

*drum roll* But what is behind door #2? Why, it’s a baby-faced Helena Bonham-Carter as SERENA STAVERLEY:

After Staverley leaves the room, our stoic but sympathizing hero, Lord Justin Vulcan (Marcus Gilbert) challenges Wrotham for Serena and the estate. If he wins, he gains all of it back, and if not … well, he won’t. Just as Vulcan does win, a shot goes off in the other room, and we learn that Sir Giles has committed suicide (he could not bear to face his daughter after he gambled her away.)

Transitioning to the next plot point… Vulcan goes to see what he has won (both the estate and Serena) and expects to find a much older woman. Obviously, Helena Bonham-Carter is gorgeous, so we know where that goes.

Bonus Plot Facts: Serena’s cousin, Nick (Neil Dickson), is in love with Lady Isabel Gillingham (Fiona Fullerton), who is in love with Vulcan, who is in love with Serena, who is being hounded by the Jerkass. So, yeah, that comes to a head too. AND, Vulcan’s mother accuses Serena of chasing after her son. The mother is A) involved in many illegal going-ons, B) batshit insane.

The Cast

Serena Staverley (Helena Bonham-Carter): Bravo, actor-hirers, for getting one of the most promising actors you could possibly snap up in the 80s. Although it will be many years before Helena Bonham-Carter develops the facial structure we know today (she will have that extremely lovely baby-face for quite a while) or the career we know just as well, here she is in all her minor-movie glory.

I personally enjoyed Helena Bonham-Carter as Serena. You can see the acting chops beneath the uninspiring character design and dangerously unepic writing. I don’t know how the character was written in the novel, but Bonham-Carter plays her as reasonable, collected, and sharp. She provides a little more than just a damsel-in-distress, and seems to be more prepared than her youthfulness make her seem. When Vulcan arrives to collect his winnings (AKA Staverley Court) she asks the necessary questions and is aware of what needs to be done. As for her acting, Bonham-Carter is pretty non-melodramatic compared with Gilbert / Vulcan.

Watch his eyebrows. They have as many lines as he does.

I felt a certain amount of retrospective pride at the characters’ reactions as she descended the stairs (the scene in which Vulcan first sees her.) “That’s right,” I thought, “That’s Helena Fucking Bonham-Carter, BITCHES.” Fans of Bonham-Carter, like myself, might enjoy seeing her at this early stage.

Lord Justin Vulcan (Marcus Gilbert): He does look like a Vulcan. The eyebrows are pointy and thick and he rarely gives more than a small smile. He even looks like a more Byronic, better-looking Leonard Nimoy / Spock.

As I said before, Vulcan is stoic, but also melodramatic. I really enjoy that. It's fun to watch, especially considering Serena's relatively understated reactions. His signature look:

a) The pointed gaze – Maneuvering the direction of his stare to complement the script

b) The eyebrows - Matching the gaze, the lines of the script, and the eyebrow raising so that they all move together to communicate both emphasis and coolness. On the other hand, they also lower for the same purpose. Often. He definitely does a variation of the Kubrick Stare, but to be sexy and not… frightening.

c) The speech – He speaks quickly, he slows down for affect, he breathes in preparation for another block of script.

d) The breathing – This is the pattern: sentence, breath, sentence, breath, sentence, breath, sentence

Here is part of the script, my notes on his acting included:

Vulcan: *breath* It hadn’t occurred to me that you would be so young.

Serena: I was a late child. My mother died giving birth to me.

Vulcan: *averts eyes downward* It puts a different complexion on matters.

Serena: Why?

Vulcan: *glances at her slyly and walks around to the other side* *breath* To begin with, *breath and twirl back to her* you can’t possibly go on living in this house. *breath* Since it now belongs to me, people would assume you were my –

Serena: blah blah blah my accounts… pay them… blah blah

Vulcan: *breath* My estate manager will sort them out before the house is sold.

Serena: Sold?

Vulcan: Naturally. *breath* Since you can’t live here and I have no use for it.

Serena: Blah blah

Vulcan: *breath* Which leaves you. *lowers eyes and raises them purposefully* *staaaaarreee* What am I to do with you, Ms. Staverley?

He was successfully sexy in my eyes, despite the breathing / pause method. Vulcan is a guy with a unibrow. That’s hot.

Lady Harriet Vulcan (Diana Rigg): She’s not a nice lady. Cruel, calculating, psychotic… she really dislikes Serena. She plays another definite villain, along with our much beloved jerkass…

Lord Harry Wrotham (Edward Fox): This is not a movie with many shades of grey. Lord Wrotham is an evil character through and through, so we hate him from the first. Serena has a close encounter with him in the last half of the film, and the viewer discovers that he is doubly unpleasant in confined spaces. I wouldn’t suggest getting into a carriage with him.

You know you’re a movie from the 80s when…

1) The overbearing soundtrack is so very, very there

2) The awesome overacting

3) A character hears bodiless voices that represent past conversations (we have seen less and less of this in recent years)

4) The black-and-white character formulas (Good characters are good, bad characters are bad)… You will also notice that Evil Mother often wears red and Serena often wears white (few other light colors.)

5) Dark, gloomy castle with secrets

6) Servants sensing evil and “feeling” it (*ahem* Serena’s servant) and then giving warnings

7) Camera zoom-ins and zoom-outs

9) A highwayman with a heart of gold comes to the rescue… so random, so lucky, so 80s (If you were a real highwayman in the 19th century, what would you do with a helpless woman? Think of a realistic answer, and then imagine the opposite happening. That is the correct answer in 9 out of 10 of 80s movies. Remember that film I mentioned before, called The Lady and The Highwayman? It’s a romance, not a story about how a woman survives a brutal attack and robbing.)

10) There is accusation, fainting, fights, and coincidental running-ins happening at an alarming rate. EX: Vulcan happens to be on the stairs as Serena is running up them. He then accuses her of being a loose woman when he sees the state of her clothes. (WTF dude?! A girl comes running in, obviously distressed, with a history of being steady, chaste, and honest, and you accuse her of going out for a nighttime tryst. :l Not cool.)

Costumes

I’m guessing that the costume designers aimed for a little after the regency era (maybe 1820s.) For gals, the waistlines are still high, but the dresses aren’t as sheer and classical as they were in the 1810s. For guys, the lapels are thick and the upper arms (where the shoulder meets the sleeves) bunch up slightly, but the cravats are less puffy than they were in the earlier 19th century.

However, it’s 80s enough that I really disliked many of the dresses. The Mother of Evil wears solid red one day, solid pink another, and then dark blue with sequins. Someone could have gotten away with that sequins dress at some 1980s party, but not in the 19th century.

Overall

I’m trying to imagine what this movie might have been like if it hadn’t been overacted, and I think it might have been worse. This is definitely more a gothic romance than anything else, and for what it is, it’s entertaining. You can’t make chocolate out of a cocoa bean and a blender… or something along those lines.

I would suggest that, if you like this type of movie (and it is a particular type), that you go ahead to the link below. If not, steer clear and go for more serious, thought-provoking material.

My principal motivations for seeing this movie would be that Helena Bonham-Carter stars and that Vulcan is excellent hormone-bait. Although the supporting cast did a good job (considering the script and characters), it is mostly due to these two actors that I actually liked this movie.

YouTube

You can view the entire movie on YouTube!

Quotes that Ruin Movies (Jane Eyre)

The most famous (often misquoted) lines from books... often repeated... often ruining endings. What is Jane Eyre? A tragedy? No, not if you've heard ANYTHING about it before reading it.

(Scroll down to see the Fry & Laurie interpretation of Jane Eyre. I LOLd.)

Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie Discuss Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre (2011)

Jane Eyre 2011

Edward Rochester … Michael Fassbender

Jane Eyre … Mia Wasikowska

Complete Cast

The Beginning:

Reader, I am a fan. On Friday night, when I should have been drilling political science theories into my resistant mind, I went to see Jane Eyre. It was not so much a matter of whether or not I had time (who does in college?) It was more about what number of my Jane-Eyre-loving friends could come with me.

I ended up going with two other lovers of 19th century novels, one of them an avid fan of Jane Eyre, with high expectations and whole chapters memorized. I promised her that, if she said lines along with the actors as she warned that she would, I would create a buffer between us (in the form of our third friend.) I dreaded hearing Rochester’s declaration of love suddenly develop an undertone of femininity from next to me. I did not carry through with the plan. As the seating arrangement went, my friend made endearing gasps and chest clutches throughout, while an older lady next to me showed some matured version of that same reaction (which manifested in orders to her husband to take back the popcorn and shushes all around.)

The Audience:

The theater audience, which consisted of mostly older couples, looked like they had probably read the book. They laughed at the right parts, many of which were more obviously funny in the book itself, so I took that as further evidence. But, watching a movie adaption of a book you love is sometimes not best to do with an audience. Unless you want that input, often unexpected.

The row behind us was very vocal.

After the fire scene, where the not-dead-thanks-to-Jane Mr. Rochester tries to convince Jane to stay – to have tea and crumpets, obviously, because that is what a lady does in the 19th century when she’s alone with a man…
Jane: (trying to get away) I’m cold.
Man Behind Us: (leer) I could warm her up.
Me: (imagining fifty-year-old man with beer belly) … D:

Character Observations:

Jane Eyre (Mia Wasikowska): Finally, an age-appropriate Jane Eyre! Here, she is actually young and only a couple of years older than Jane would have been. Physically, she is small, thin, delicate-looking, but plain as only celebrities can be (and by that, I mean gorgeous.) I wouldn’t dare go into an analysis of what made her a good Jane Eyre, since I haven’t read the book in a while, but I found her acting both subtle and strong. She’s up there as one of my favorite Jane Eyres, right behind Ruth Wilson (it’s difficult to beat the 2006 Jane Eyre in my mind.)

Rochester (Michael Fassbender): I found him less passionate and more scathing than some past interpretations, but then, I also have a love-hate relationship with this character. The first time I read Jane Eyre, I loved him, but the second time, his obsession with being cleansed by Jane’s innocence hit me. I still have that same discomfort with the concept of purity as something that’s catching.

HOWEVER

I thoroughly enjoyed his performance. My favorite scene, by far, was his pleading with Jane after the Great and Dreadful Discovery. In my opinion, none of the other adaptations did as well with that scene as this Jane Eyre.

Complaints (!? Ohnoes !):

The sudden ending disappointed me. I feel that the whole point of the ending was not to say that Jane Eyre had come back to Rochester, but that Rochester’s spirit had been crushed by the whole Catastrophe, but that Jane was able to lead him back to becoming his old self again.

What Took me By Surprise:

Judi Dench gave Mrs. Fairfax some very funny reaction shots! I really enjoyed her part in this. In the scenes she had, she communicated her character’s different layers to the audience, and said more with the lines she had than many other actresses might have done.

Conclusion:

Entertaining, definitely gothic, with a few frights – birds flying out of no where, creepy laughs in the hallway – and probably now in my top two favorite Jane Eyre adaptations (again, it really is hard to beat the 2006 television version.)

Clips on Teh Youtube

The After-Fire-And-Rescue Scene


The Confession / The Proposal


The Hypothetical Question



Mrs. Fairfax of Awesome

Snarky Introduction

Ladies and Gents,

I thought twice before exposing others to the extremely single-minded conversations I hold with myself (rants at their best, gushing at their worst), but it's built up at last. AND IT NEEDS RELEASE. Like that story of Midas' secret mule ears, the barber who saw them, and his confidante, the tree (if you don't know this myth, you should, especially if you’re Irish.) This blog is my tree, and it's one I hope to update at least once a week.

BUT TELL ME, what WILL you REVIEW?

Period films, from the obscure fluff lost in the archives of movie history, to the most beloved interpretations of Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre and Jane Austen's Persuasion. I will focus on 15th - 19th century films, but will definitely explore movies outside that bracket. I will also add occasional reviews of recently released non-period movies (because I even have opinions about movies that are set after the 70s --- sometimes.)

Also?

Also... you'll get a ton of lists, scribblings, and GIFs, because those of a few of my favorite things. What? You thought that my incoherency was limited to reviews? I THINK NOT!

List of Reviews So Far...

Fine Films
Jane Eyre (2011)
Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003)

Fine Fluff
A Hazard of Hearts (1987)