THIS IS HOW THE ENTIRE COURSE OF A LIFE CAN BE CHANGED: BY DOING NOTHING.Ā
In 1962, Florence and Edward (Saoirse Ronan, Billy Howle) are on their honeymoon at Chesil Beach in southern England when sex comes between them. One of two engaging dramas scripted by Ian McEwan to be released the same year, this one depicting a very inexperienced couple (the opposite of The Children Act), which becomes an opportunity for the writer to illustrate bad traditions from past times. Itās a sad, moving story about youthful ignorance and anger, with echoes of sexual abuse. Well directed by first-timer Dominic Cooke; the flashbacks bring light to the film and the scenes at Chesil Beach take advantage of a naturally dramatic place.
2018-Britain. 110 min. Color. Widescreen. Produced byĀ Elizabeth Karlsen, Stephen Woolley. Directed byĀ Dominic Cooke. Screenplay, Novel: Ian McEwan. Cinematography: Sean Bobbitt. Cast: Saoirse Ronan (Florence Ponting), Billy Howle (Edward Mayhew), Emily Watson (Violet Ponting), Anne-Marie Duff, Samuel West, Adrian Scarborough.
Trivia: At one point, Sam Mendes was reportedly going to direct, with Carey Mulligan in the lead.
Last word: “I thought one thing that I really need to do is break down the very long scene on the beach into a shape that could give them some key shifts and changes in the scene. Because I wanted to shoot it without breaks. We did do lots of different set ups, but we shot it the whole way through in about, say, seven setups. I thought with a scene as emotionally charged as that, you donāt want to start and stop. You need them to be in the zone and to be responding to one another. We did do a lot of work on that.” (Cooke, Seventh Row)
