Overview
In 1840s England, palaeontologist Mary Anning and a young woman sent by her husband to convalesce by the sea develop an intense relationship. Despite the chasm between their social spheres and personalities, Mary and Charlotte discover they can each offer what the other has been searching for: the realisation that they are not alone. It is the beginning of a passionate and all-consuming love affair that will defy all social bounds and alter the course of both lives irrevocably.
The biggest problem that this movie has is that it came out within a year of Portrait of a Lady On Fire and thus is often compared to that movie. Is it as good as that movie? No, of course not – that movie is among the all-time greats. But this movie is still excellent and that should be good enough. First and foremost, Winslet is incredible. Her character walks such a delicate line throughout the movie – at first starting out as a dour and lonely woman and then going through several other phases (it seemed to me as though her makeup was different at certain times in order to soften up her appearance). The role is so nuanced that I can imagine few actresses being able to pull it off. Saoirse Ronan was also extremely well-cast and had to go through her character’s own transformation. While this film doesn’t have the highs of “Portrait” in some ways I thought it was more interesting because we saw the story primarily through the eyes of the troubled heroine whereas in Portrait the story seemed to be primarily from the visitor’s perspective. This resulted in the audience having a real feel for her heartache throughout.
IHATEBadMovies.com reviews Ammonite
Movie title: Ammonite
Movie description: In 1840s England, palaeontologist Mary Anning and a young woman sent by her husband to convalesce by the sea develop an intense relationship. Despite the chasm between their social spheres and personalities, Mary and Charlotte discover they can each offer what the other has been searching for: the realisation that they are not alone. It is the beginning of a passionate and all-consuming love affair that will defy all social bounds and alter the course of both lives irrevocably.
Date published: 2021-02-15
Director(s): Francis Lee
Actor(s): Kate Winslet, Saoirse Ronan, Gemma Jones, James McArdle, Alec Secăreanu, Fiona Shaw, Sarah White, Liam Thomas, Sam Parks, Claire Rushbrook, Nick Pearse, Victoria Elliott, Beatrice Curnew, Susie Baxter, Gethin Alderman, Robert Purdy, Max Dowler, Paul Dodds, John Mackay, Mladen Petrov, Wendy Nottingham, David Juritz, Ben Hancox, James Boyd, Peter Gregson, Pierre Bergman, Michael Hennessy, Harvey Scrimshaw
Genre: Romance, Drama
My Review
The biggest problem that this movie has is that it came out within a year of Portrait of a Lady On Fire and thus is often compared to that movie. Is it as good as that movie? No, of course not – that movie is among the all-time greats. But this movie is still excellent and that should be good enough. First and foremost, Winslet is incredible. Her character walks such a delicate line throughout the movie – at first starting out as a dour and lonely woman and then going through several other phases (it seemed to me as though her makeup was different at certain times in order to soften up her appearance). The role is so nuanced that I can imagine few actresses being able to pull it off. Saoirse Ronan was also extremely well-cast and had to go through her character’s own transformation. While this film doesn’t have the highs of “Portrait” in some ways I thought it was more interesting because we saw the story primarily through the eyes of the troubled heroine whereas in Portrait the story seemed to be primarily from the visitor’s perspective. This resulted in the audience having a real feel for her heartache throughout.
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My Review - 8/10
8/10