Customer Reviews

The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Tennessee Williams is the heart, mind, and voice of the South, and Jodie Markell has made an extraordinarily beautiful film of his screenplay, "The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond." Exquisite in its detail and dramatic force, the director does not shy away from Williams's view of a rotting, decadent, romantic Gothic Southland. And in Bryce Dallas Howard (with alabaster skin and raven-black hair) and Chris Evans, she has possibly the most handsome cinematic-couple since Dame Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift in "A Place in the Sun." This film is a great achievement, not to be missed.

I find it strange (or maybe just typical for an antsy media world) that this film was shunned so widely, if not overlooked. Also, there seems to be a recurrent animosity against Bryce Dallas Howard as an actress that I find hard to justify. I can think of few others who are showing such promise at an early age.

And as for the screenplay that is the inevitable draw of the film, it certainly falls canonically among Tennessee Williams' lesser works; yet even his lesser works have always carried much magic, and an idiomatic command of poetic elegance that no American writer since has matched.

We all know well Blanche's ruminations about paper lanterns as a metaphor for magic in the world; people far smarter and wiser than me have called those words among the most deeply felt ever written in the English language. In this film, Fisher Willow has her moment too, hers more nuanced than the melodramatic flourish of Vivian Leigh's delivery. She pines for the company not of strangers, but of people who have meaning, who aspire to art and creation, and so forth. They are words meant to be heard spoken, rather than spit out in this no-name review on the Internet.

So all of that is to say, the best you can do is ignore the shrugging critics and watch this film. It does the legacy of Tennessee Williams justice, it is beautifully shot on a very low budget, and it is a fine performance by a budding actress who absorbs the playwright's intentions elegantly.

Jodie Markell has created a period piece with timeless appeal! This never-before produced screenplay by Tennessee Williams came to light at the right time and in the right hands. Markell's insightful direction and Bryce Dallas Howard's brilliant performance transport the viewer to 1920's Memphis with its juxtaposition of high-class southern charm, architecture and posh parties to the inner turmoil brought about through the accompanying societal expectations. Howard's portrayal of a "fallen" southern belle, Fisher Willow, is both heartbreaking and breathtaking. The high-value teardrop diamond earring she wears which is lost represents Willow's desperate struggle to hold onto her inheritance at all costs -- monetary and personal. The viewer is seamlessly transported into Willow's world of truth vs. lies, genuine vs. fake, awake vs. asleep... as she is forced to face her past and present demons on the journey of discovering her true self (and true love, ie Chris Evans) in the process. You don't have to be a Tennessee Williams fan to get swept away by this film!

"The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond," is a real gem but it is not for everyone. If you are not a big Tennessee Williams fan, you probably will not like it. If you are unfamiliar with Tennessee Williams, then you are better off watching "A Streetcar Named Desire," or "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof."

Admittedly, this is not one of Williams' best stories. The reason the film works so well is the acting and directing.

I had seen Bryce Dallas Howard in a few other films but they did not prepare me for this absolutely thrilling performance. This is not just the best performance of the year but it is the best performance in the past several years. She brings the character of Fisher Willow to life the way that Vivian Leigh did for Blanche DuBois. In many ways Fisher Willow is like a young version of Blanche.

Fisher is a typical Williams' heroine. She initially comes off as a selfish, self centered, Southern Belle but underneath she is much more fragile than anyone suspects. Bryce Dallas Howard is able to bring this out with such complexity and nuance that we can sympathize with a character that we should not care about so much. Even in her best moments she seems as though she could shatter at any moment.

This performance alone is enough reason to see this film.

The story follows the familiar themes covered in other Tennessee Williams stories: loneliness, loss of wealth, fall from grace, and battling interior demons. The teardrop diamond could represent the wealth and status her family once had. It is not just a $5000 jewel. It is a symbol of what her family once was and what was once the old South.

Jodie Markell does an impressive job directing. Her style is old school. She knows when to let the camera linger and when to let the scenes play out. The film does not seem rushed and it never drags. The cinematography is gorgeous with burnished orange dominating the color palette.

"The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond," may not be one of the four best movies made from a Tennessee Williams story but it is not far behind. This is mandatory viewing for any fan of Tennessee Williams.

Beautiful and exquisite Tennessee Williams script with wondeful performances and flavor of the period. A must have for Williams fans.

This is a very wonderful treatment of a heretofore unproduced Williams play. The director makes fine work of the subtleties of the American South. The accents are dead on, and the production rich and beautiful. This is indeed a fine film. SandyRapp@aol.comThe Loss of a Teardrop Diamond [Blu-ray]

I love this movie! It's so different from the current films coming out, that it was a nice escape. It was very realistic with a perfect ending. The actors were perfectly cast, and it was AMAZING to see Chris Evans play a serious character.

Overall, very great movie!!

Based upon a Tennessee Williams screenplay from 1957, this recent film does a decent job within the limits of the script. TW wrote many plays and scripts, but not more than maybe 10 of them deserve to be kept for posterity. The others will just be weeded out by historical negligence. I don't think any director with any cast could have done this piece better. That is a lukewarm praise, but that is hardly my fault.

I learned from Wikipedia that poor Lindsay Lohan was the first choice for the part of Fisher Willow, the society girl coming back to Memphis from a Sorbonne education in the 1920s, finding her father disgraced over things that he did as a planter, which led to the death of a few people during a great river flood.
Lohan was facing some career obstacles, so the part was taken by a very convincing young lady called Bryce Dallas Howard, who possibly did it better than LL could have done it.

Fisher Willow has problems finding an escort for the debutante season. So she hires a young stud with a sense of honor. He doesn't play his part as intended, but resists her invitations to be more than a hired hand. The rich young woman finds herself an outsider and fights hysterically against being a wallflower. Things get rather messed up when one of her earrings drops and is missed at the arrival at a party.
TW added a sick old drug addicted aunt to the plot, probably because he sensed that the story was rather flat. That adds only limited depth though. Hints at a suicide option don't work very convincingly. Fisher's assisting the old woman in her suicide is too much a side show to be a comfortable story element.
Conclusion: week play, filmed reasonably well within the limits of the material.

Sometimes I can't seem to remember a romance that's been beautifully told. Well, from my point of view, anyway. Deeply appreciated!

I first saw this movie very recently on Showtime. I ordered the DVD because it promised additional scenes and extras, including an interview with the director. I tried to buy the screenplay or anthology that had the screenplay in it, because I wanted a deeper understanding of the story. How did Fisher know Jimmy if he only worked at the commissary for two weeks? What is the background of Jimmy's family (other than he was the grandson of an ex-governor)? What was the relationship between Fisher and Jimmy before she made the proposition? Did Jimmy love Fisher? What was the prior relationship between Jimmy and Viv McCorkle? And many more. The DVD extras did not answer any of my questions, except the director did say at one point something to the effect: "when Jimmy loved Fisher and when he didn't." The rest of the director's interview revealed nothing about the heart of the story, but babblings about how they tried to stay true to the great god of all things literary (or so you would think). Bryce Dallas Howard is good in this, except when her accent changes throughout. Her overwrought piano playing almost caused me to turn off this film. I think the real star of this is Chris Evans. He did an impeccable job (with what little was given him to work with) and his accent was spot on and believable. The scene where he gets back in the car after Fisher races back to the house to get her coat and kill off Aunt Addie was remarkable. The range of emotions on his face shows his skill at conveying exasperation, frustration, the release of anger and resignation is fascinating. All along Jimmy was furious with Fisher, but it turns out that it was Miss McCorkle who stole the diamond, kept it from Jimmy, allowed him to be humiliated in front of everyone, drove a wedge between Jimmy and Fisher, and then used sex as a weapon to get what she wanted. She's the one who made a fool of him. Too bad she was rewarded with the sex she wanted. I'd like to believe that in the end Jimmy loved Fisher and that they were a good match. He started out understanding his need to please Fisher (whatever you want) but finally ended up on nearly the same footing, which was necessary to any success in the relationship. Still looking for a copy of that screenplay .....