Emmanuel Levy
Easy Virtue B+
Rome International Film Fest (World Premiere in Competition)�After several disappointing films ("Eye of the Beholder"), Australian director Stephan Elliott, still best known for the drag comedy "The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert"), is back on terra ferma with his new screen adaptation of Noel Coward's play "Easy Virtue," a sharply written, well-acted witty comedy of morals and manners.
This is the second screen version of Coward's stage work, which was written in 1924, when the playwright was only 23. The young Hitchcock made a silent film version of the play in 1927, which obviously could not profit from Coward's noted (and notorious) smart and clever dialogue.
The sharp-tongued Coward had once noted, "It's discouraging to think how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit," an observation which could serve as the motto of "Easy Virtue," one of Coward's least known works, as well as most of his other works. The trick with the sometimes misunderstood Coward is to detect his ability to critique and dissect the mores of the high-society he is generally assumed to have been celebrating and embracing.
When the story begins, John Whittaker (the handsome British star of "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" and "Stardust"), a young, seemingly rich and spoiled Englishman, returns to the estate owned by his parents with his new, slightly older American wife Larita (Jessica Biel), a sexy, seemingly glamorous and shallow woman he had met, fell madly in love with, and impetuously married in Chicago.
As soon as the couple arrives, Mrs. Whittaker (the always fabulous Kristin Scott Thomas) starts to put Larita down; it's as if she is allergic to the very presence of her new daughter-in-law. A battle of wits ensues, when Larita realizes Mrs. Whittaker's games and agenda. Unfazed, she is determined to fight back with her own strategies, or else lose John's love and respect of her.
During the course of one long and catty weekend, to undermine her rival and competitor Larita, Mrs. Whittaker tries to manipulate every situation, be it a private conversation, family dinner, or public event. At first Larita, a "stranger" and "outsider," both literally and figuratively, remains frustratingly calm and passive. However, gradually, Larita begins to engineer her own sassy and original counter-attacks, gaining in the process the attention of Mr. Whittaker (Colin Firth), a seemingly distant and detached husband-father.
I deliberately use the word seemingly as Coward's play is very much about the deceit of first impressions and the gap between physical appearances and social utterances and the more real and substantial essences of his characters, each of which undergoes a transformation in the course of the tale.
True to form, the aptly titled "Easy Virtue" contains revelations of secrets about Larita's past, specifically the charge that she had assisted killing her husband, with a wonderful presentation of the true meaning of romantic love. (Coward may have been one of the first writers to describe and propagate euthanasia).
Also true to form, the film depicts a series of uniquely British rites and rituals (courtship, hunting, costume balls, and so on) only to undermine and criticize them, often through Larita's deviant or non-conformist conduct. As expected, John and Larita's marriage dissolves, and in the grand finale, Larita makes a leap to freedom from the emotionally stifling house with a new admirer in tow.
A rather faithful adaptation to the big screen, the scenario, co-penned by Elliott and Sheridan Jobbins, brings to the fore Coward's ideas, which are grounded in the reality of the 1920s, but remain surprisingly relevant today.
Stylishly directed by Elliott, "Easy Virtue" benefits from strong performances of the entire cast, from the leads all the way down to the supporting thespians. It takes some time to get used to Biel's delivery, which is awkward, in line with the part that she plays, that of a bright, avant-garde woman who refuses to play by the rules. The multi-nuanced roles calls for a more skillful and stylish actress; Biel is just adequate.
Flawless, multi-layered turns are rendered by Kristin Scott Thomas, as the stoic yet neurotic and possessive mother, and Colin Firth, as the war-weary head of the household who spends most of his time in his garage. Also good in smaller but significant roles are Kris Marshall, as Furber, the Whittaker's butler, Katherine Parkinson, as the eldest daughter Marion, and Kimberly Nixon, as Hilda, the youngest and impressionable daughter.
Considering its relative small budget and short shooting schedule (about seven weeks), "Easy Virtue" is an elegant and lavish production, which takes full advantage of its magnificent settings of stately homes, such as Flintham Hall in Nottingham, Englefield House (near Reading in Berkshire), and Wimpole Hall in Cambridgeshire.
http://www.emanuellevy.com/article.php?articleID=11673
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tsegal-1
16 years ago
Nice review, but you made a few mistakes.
John and Larita marry in France, not Chicago, after meeting in Monte Carlo.
Although the basic plot is the same, this film is considerably changed from the original play and 1928 movie -- especially the scandal in Larita's past. The euthanasia element was invented for this version.
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gorye
16 years ago
Yes, no use to compare this film with the play or 1928 Hitchcock's film. Only the names and position of some of the characters are similar, and the main fact that a young heir suddenly marries "not so young a bride" - who is absolutely stranger to the family.
And that's nearly all about it.
In the play we even never know something evident about her past - who Larita is and who and where has she been before. English? Seems not. French - impossble to tell. Mostly her guilt in the eyes of the mother that Larita is a stranger and therefore can't be trusted. Only some rumours about her lovers and divorse - that's all.
Hitchcock couldn't play with the wit of the play in his silent film, really, but his film had set greatly important a subject - divorce. One must have a proof of one's marriage partner's guilt (usually - infidelity) to get a divorce.
Some problems of disaccord or lack of understanding had no chance in 20-ies.
So, abusing of innocent, wife in most cases, was quite a common then, as we see Larita's problem in 1928 "Easy Virtue".
She's married to a druncard and innocent, but brought in a verdict as guilty and divorced. It means from that day she was like a woman of an easy virtue.
So, when in the end she left her second's husband home without intention to defend herself in impending divorse suit - well, the society only was satislied to have a proof the woman really was of Easy Virtue.
The film starts with the first suit advertisement and ends with advertisement about the second divorse.
Aye, Hitch was A Master.
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