I've seen this movie four times now and waited before writing a review, waited to see if my first spell-bound viewing could be matched by the others that would follow. And an overwhelming yes is the answer.
It actually gets deeper with each viewing even with knowing that the cast were given the outline of the characters and told to develop their own dialogue. In fact Brenda Blethyn, who plays Cynthia, the mother, was not even aware that Hortense, played by Marianne Jean-Baptiste, was black until she meets her for the first time in a crucial scene.
Timothy Spall, playing Maurice, the brother/uncle is incredible, what he can portray just with his eyes is breathtaking.
I love the layering of the story, the characterizations so unexpected. Such as the child abandoned at birth and put out for adoption being the most centred and focused of everyone. The drunken ex-owner of the business that Maurice bought bringing Maurice to a place of awareness that it could be him wandering around drunkenly, speaking of his past achievements.
The flashes of mini-plots portrayed by the subjects of Maurice's photographic settings. The heart-breaking scene where Maurice's snobby wife reveals her secrets. The slowly developing warmth and comfort between Cynthia and Hortense.And on.
This is a fabulous movie, worth seeing over and over to "get" it all. And even then. The secret of Hortense's father is never revealed, just an "unknown" marked on the birth certificate, which leaves us to ponder on the fact she was probably raped at fifteen. She states she deliberately never saw the baby that was the result.
You can literally feel her growing joy in Hortense and how beautiful a person she is. One scene earlier on has Cynthia telling Hortense how more like her she is than her other (white) daughter. Remarkable. 9 out of 10.
Would that we had a Mike Leigh at this side of the world to bring us such treasures!!
It actually gets deeper with each viewing even with knowing that the cast were given the outline of the characters and told to develop their own dialogue. In fact Brenda Blethyn, who plays Cynthia, the mother, was not even aware that Hortense, played by Marianne Jean-Baptiste, was black until she meets her for the first time in a crucial scene.
Timothy Spall, playing Maurice, the brother/uncle is incredible, what he can portray just with his eyes is breathtaking.
I love the layering of the story, the characterizations so unexpected. Such as the child abandoned at birth and put out for adoption being the most centred and focused of everyone. The drunken ex-owner of the business that Maurice bought bringing Maurice to a place of awareness that it could be him wandering around drunkenly, speaking of his past achievements.
The flashes of mini-plots portrayed by the subjects of Maurice's photographic settings. The heart-breaking scene where Maurice's snobby wife reveals her secrets. The slowly developing warmth and comfort between Cynthia and Hortense.And on.
This is a fabulous movie, worth seeing over and over to "get" it all. And even then. The secret of Hortense's father is never revealed, just an "unknown" marked on the birth certificate, which leaves us to ponder on the fact she was probably raped at fifteen. She states she deliberately never saw the baby that was the result.
You can literally feel her growing joy in Hortense and how beautiful a person she is. One scene earlier on has Cynthia telling Hortense how more like her she is than her other (white) daughter. Remarkable. 9 out of 10.
Would that we had a Mike Leigh at this side of the world to bring us such treasures!!