19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Christopher Hampton's Carrington, May 31, 2002
A young female artist falls in love with a known homosexual and the two spend their remaining years in each other's lives. No, this is not a romantic comedy starring Julia Roberts, but "Carrington" is an emotional drama that is a triumph for Emma Thompson and Jonathan Pryce, and less than perfect for writer/director Christopher Hampton.
The film is good. It takes place in the years 1914-1932 in England. Thompson is Dora Carrington, a troubled artist who falls for homosexual writer Lytton Strachey, played by Pryce. Strachey is a bit of a dramatic, suffering from "old age" and other infirmities, although he would be considered a young man. Strachey is first attracted to Carrington, thinking she is a young boy thanks to her pageboy haircut and lack of makeup.
The two fall in love the only way they can: unphysically. They share a bed, but have no real sexual relationship and pursue the kind of physical love they cannot find with each other. Virigin Carrington falls for an angry artist who cannot understand their four year relationship with no sex. She is simply not attracted to his body, but gives in anyway, finding she does not enjoy sex anyway. She breaks it off with him, using her impending cohabitation with Strachey as a reason. She then brings home uptight army soldier Ralph, played by Steven Waddington. He is a man's man who does not understand all these artists and conscientious objectors (to WWI), but beds Carrington and, the film implies, Strachey. Ralph and Carrington marry and Ralph brings home friend Gerald for Strachey to "get to know." Gerald then suddenly falls in love with Carrington. The two have an affair. Strachey finds and loves a younger man named Roger, and Carrington dumps Gerald, later finding a guy with a boat who really likes his sex on the high seas. Ironically, he is not sexually attracted to Carrington, the very reason she broke up with the angry young artist. Strachey and Carrington end up back together in their strange living arrangement, and both meet their fates.
Thompson and Pryce are so good here it hurts. The main problem I had was with Hampton's choice of subject matter. He based the film on a book about Strachey, titled the film after Carrington, and I kept noticing a real lack of focus as to the film's main character. Hampton also writes Strachey like he is a poor man's Oscar Wilde, coming up with pithy sayings in between heartbreaks. Carrington comes across as flighty and confused, but we do not see how disturbed she is until after Strachey's death, and Hampton could have elaborated on that a little more. More scenes about Carrington and Strachey's work might have helped as well. The two hour movie feels like compressed images from a long running soap opera. Why should the viewer care so much about these characters?
Hampton the director is wonderful. In one scene, Carrington sits on a stump and, through a giant bank of windows, watches her husband and his live in mistress, Carrington's own new lover, and Strachey and Roger, all getting ready for bed. Hampton keeps the scene sad without becoming voyeuristic, as Carrington seems to be silently questioning all these men who have brought her to this place in time. Carrington's death is also handled tactfully.
I would recommend "Carrington," but with the reservations about the script. I definitely would recommend it on the performances alone, if nothing else.
This is rated (R) for mild physical violence, mild gun violence, profanity, some female nudity, brief male nudity, strong sexual content, strong sexual references, and adult situations.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
What is love?, November 20, 2002
By A Customer
This movie will force you to ask yourself the difficult question, "Have I ever really known love?", and cause you to long for a friendship that will endure the span of your own lifetime.
This movie is a romance, but there are no wooing words of passion between the two main characters. This movie is a bodice ripping hot bed of passion, but the two main characters never have sex with each other.
Do we choose the people that we will love, or are they prechosen for us? Whatever you feel or think about this movie, trust me, it won't be a lukewarm opinion. It was well worth the money spent for this DVD.
If you liked this one, I would also highly recommend, "Henry and June" with Fred Ward & Uma Thurman, "Delta of Venus" with Costas Mandylor, "Red Shoe Diaries - The Movie" with David Duchovny & Billy Worth and "Nora" with Ewan McGregor & Susan Lynch.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Jonathan Pryce - never better, August 5, 2001
If you care at all about great acting, you must see this film. The story of Lytton Strachey and Dora Carrington, two characters you will never forget, will stand as one of the great love affairs of the last century. That their's was not a sexual affair, only serves to expand our understanding of what love is and can be. Emma Thompson equals or betters all of her previous film work, while Jonathan Pryce is a revelation as the openly gay Strachey. If you are a fan of Merchant/Ivory, or Terence Davies, or Marleen Gorris, you will love this handsomely crafted film biography.
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