A Quiet Passion
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).
"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)
- Director:
- Terence Davies ('The House of Mirth', 'The Deep Blue Sea', 'Distant Voices, Still Lives')
- Writer:
- Terence Davies
- Cast:
- Cynthia NixonJennifer EhleDuncan DuffKeith CarradineJodhi MayJoanna BaconCatherine BaileyEmma Bell
Reviews & comments
a finely crafted portrait of the revered American poet Emily Dickinson
Modern cinema is dominated by genre formulas so it is refreshing to find something different. A Quiet Passion (2016) offers unconventional cinematography, direction and narration in a film that often feels like an extended poem. It will not be to everyone’s taste, but for those with a curiosity about the gifted melancholic Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) it is...
Variety
pressWhat sets the film drastically off-balance is its contrastingly finicky impulse to paint Dickinson as one of the rapier wits of her generation.
The New Yorker
pressIt 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.
The Guardian
pressThe 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.
The Australian
pressDavies doesn’t shrink from the challenges this darkened mood poses for his audience.
Sydney Morning Herald
pressI can't think of another director with the sensibility to put it on screen.
Hollywood Reporter
pressThe film can't escape an underlying static quality that extinguishes the flame before it can get burning.
BBC
pressThe 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.
Variety
pressWhat sets the film drastically off-balance is its contrastingly finicky impulse to paint Dickinson as one of the rapier wits of her generation.
The New Yorker
pressIt 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.
The Guardian
pressThe 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.
The Australian
pressDavies doesn’t shrink from the challenges this darkened mood poses for his audience.
Sydney Morning Herald
pressI can't think of another director with the sensibility to put it on screen.
Hollywood Reporter
pressThe film can't escape an underlying static quality that extinguishes the flame before it can get burning.
BBC
pressThe 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.
a finely crafted portrait of the revered American poet Emily Dickinson
Modern cinema is dominated by genre formulas so it is refreshing to find something different. A Quiet Passion (2016) offers unconventional cinematography, direction and narration in a film that often feels like an extended poem. It will not be to everyone’s taste, but for those with a curiosity about the gifted melancholic Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) it...
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