A Quiet Passion
(2016)Biopic of celebrated 19th-century American poet Emily Dickinson by veteran writer-director Terence Davies (The Deep Blue Sea). Stars Cynthia Nixon (TV's Sex and the City) and Jennifer Ehle (Pride and Prejudice).... More
"Born in 1830, Dickinson is considered to be a gifted child, but an emotional trauma forces her to give up her studies. The introverted young woman withdraws from society and writes poetry. In spite of her cloistered existence she takes her readers on a journey into the wider world. Terence Davies imagines her biography and explores how Emily Dickinson’s exceptional poems could come into being... Davies’ biopic also describes a talented woman’s lonely and desperate struggle for recognition in a world dominated by men." (Berlin International Film Festival)Hide
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Directed by Terence Davies ('The House of Mirth', 'The Deep Blue Sea', 'Distant Voices, Still Lives')
Starring Cynthia Nixon, Jennifer Ehle, Duncan Duff, Keith Carradine, Jodhi May, Joanna Bacon, Catherine Bailey, Emma Bell
Written by Terence Davies
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A Quiet Passion
BY cinemusefilm superstar
The story unfolds within a traditional bio-pic narrative structure.... More We meet the young schoolgirl Emily (Emma Bell) who, from an early age, is fiercely rebellious with anyone who would impose their ideas and values upon her. Born into a prominent Puritan family in Amherst, Massachusetts, she privately indulged her passion for writing verse at a time when women were never published. After the death of a close friend, she became obsessive about mortality and her poetry darkened with angst and melancholy. The mature Emily (Cynthia Nixon) was in awe of her attractive sister and she became acutely self-conscious, developing what today might be described as depressive agoraphobia. Highly judgemental of the foibles and faults of others, she was reclusive to the point where she refused to go outside and would only talk to visitors if she was not visible to them. Despite, or perhaps because, of her complexities she wrote 1800 poems but few were published in her lifetime. Beautifully filmed with detailed period sets and costumes, this sumptuous production conveys a dark mind lightened by only by her intelligent wit.
Admiring the cinematic qualities of this film is not the same as a declaration of enjoyment. It exudes a joyless austerity through its colour palette and framing, and the use of prolonged fixed camera takes feels excessive. There are several excruciatingly slow 360 degree pans that show little more than the banality of time and the emptiness of space in Emily’s lonely world. Many scene changes and time lapses have a jarring abruptness that might mimic a restless mind but are also distracting. The script of this dialogue-rich film sounds forced, with every second line intended as pithy high-brow banter, and many of the set-piece scenes are symmetrically framed to evoke the formalism of 19th century portraiture styles. Perhaps the biggest gamble taken in this film is the overlaid narration of Dickinson’s verse to amplify or deepen screen moments. If you are familiar with her work then the poetry narration may add layers of meaning, but for others its density is challenging when spoken at length.
The purpose of any bio-pic is to shed light on significant people in history. For Emily Dickinson, this can only be done by entering the prism of a complex and troubled mind that found solace and expression in verse. Cynthia Nixon gives a tour-de-force performance across the wide emotional range of a creative genius trapped in a world ill-suited to her intellect and gender. The film achieves much by creatively merging its medium with its message. Its greatest achievement is to pay homage to a literary giant for audiences unfamiliar with her work.Hide
The Press Reviews
The film’s deep sympathy for Emily is unmistakable, but it is so stylised that I wished I was watching Nixon on stage in a one-woman play instead – and at times it felt as if I was. Full Review
The film can't escape an underlying static quality that extinguishes the flame before it can get burning. Full Review
The Sunset Song director’s film about the reclusive American poet overcomes the challenge of her closed, interior life, with the help of a great performance by Cynthia Nixon. Full Review
It displays an urgent outpouring of pent-up creative energy from a director well advanced in his career but tapping into ideas, impulses, and talents that somehow have been kept under wraps throughout his decades of artistic activity. Full Review
What sets the film drastically off-balance is its contrastingly finicky impulse to paint Dickinson as one of the rapier wits of her generation. Full Review
I can't think of another director with the sensibility to put it on screen. Full Review
Davies doesn’t shrink from the challenges this darkened mood poses for his audience. Full Review
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