Carrington (1995)

The true story (it says here) of painter Dora Carrington and writer Lytton Strachey (portrayed by Emma Thompson and Jonathan Pryce). They fall in love, but Mr. Strachey is a homosexual. Then, the originally frigid, tomboyish Ms. Carrington is bedded by a series of amorous hunks; but, she really loves Strachey. Christopher Hampton's "Carrington" is slow-moving, posed, and one-sided. The latter description refers specifically, to a discriminating focus on the distaff side of the sexuality; it's painfully obvious that the explicitness is gender-biased. The film's subject matter is welcome; it's execution is less so.Ms. Thompson is good, albeit unusually cast; distractingly, her appearance changes little during the story's decades. Thompson is voluptuous in her nude scenes. Perpetually bearded Mr. Pryce is more (intellectually) interesting, as her platonic co-habitué. Pryce matter-of-factly offers the better characterization. Of the strong supporting performers, Samuel West (as Gerald Brenan) is exemplary. Much of the film is visually beautiful; perhaps, its greatest strength is Denis Lenoir's photography.***** Carrington (1995) Christopher Hampton ~ Emma Thompson, Jonathan Pryce, Samuel West

The words I write will not fully express how this movie made me feel. But I will do my best. This movie made me love Emma Thompson as an actress even more than before. Anyone with eyes cannot deny her talent but this just confirmed how awesome she is at her craft. I am surprised she was not recognized (BAFTA) for her efforts in this film. I don't want to write any spoilers but I would suggest one see this movie if they want the feeling of staring out the window on a rainy day wrapped up in a warm blanket thinking about the elation of finding love, confusion as it is revealed to be unrequited love and their demise from it! That sounds morbid but I would agree with the other review that the film is beautifully made.

I would like to go back for a moment and dig deeper into the idea of full circle. I caught this idea as I was watching this film, and I thought it was amazing the way the director showed this transition. The first person, outside of Lytton, that Carrington falls for is a man who is only interested in a physical relationship. Although she claims she is not interested in him sexually, it is at this time in Carrington's life, she is interested in a man's mind, not what is under his pants. She breaks off this relationship to live with Lytton, a man who can give her the intellect that she desires. As Carrington grows older, she finds comfort in physical relationships. In fact, the majority of this film is about physical relationships. Carrington is never hesitant to jump into the arms of another man. A part of me thinks that she is constantly trying to find another Lytton out there, but there is another part of me that says that she was just trying to get the physical from men, because she had the perfect man at home (Lytton of course). So after being with a man that only wants to have a physical relationship, she jumps into the arms of a soldier. One that is great with the physical, amazing towards Lytton, and perfect for Carrington. As this comes to a surprising end, we see her jump into a relationship that was purely sexual. There was no interaction between the two except for when they were on his boat having sex. Carrington experiences the best sex of her life with this man, but it again ... much like the others ... comes to a complete halt when he tells her that he is not really interested in her sexually. Odd, isn't how this films started with Carrington and her first boyfriend. We have come full circle. If we were to look at this film in a symmetrical angle, we would notice a circle outside with Lytton in the direct center of this circle. The circle would represent Carrington's life. All around the circle would be the men that she has been with, while Lytton would be her stability point. All throughout her encounters with other men she always is able to find comfort with her center figure ... Lytton. If you watch this film closely, you will notice that there is only one point in the movie where Carrington goes outside the circle. It is when she is having a party at her house. Carrington goes outside only to sit down on a stump that happens to be facing the house. She is able to see all the windows in the house, and all of her past lovers with their new ones. Even Lytton with his new boyfriend.This is the moment that we see Carrington thinking about her life. Seeing what she has been a part of, and watching it somewhat crumble down. This is her only moment outside of the circle that she has built. Lytton is the foundation to this circle, and it is obvious that without Lytton everything around Carrington must crumble as well. That my friends, is how you build a love story. Grade: *** out of *****

Emma Thompson's performance in this film about Dora Carrington, a talented painter during the early 1900's, was absolutely incredible. However, I left the room feeling very sad. Carrington is a very sad character. Watching the film I was led to believe that she basically let all those men do whatever they wanted to her because she just didn't care. She only cared about Lytton, her homosexual friend and the subject of her real, passionate love.This film is fantastically acted and is absolutely enthralling. But the anal sex scene was a little too much for me to handle without crying.I do recommend it, however, because of the superbness of it. It's just amazing. However, not for the faint of heart.Maybe I just like Emma Thompson too much.