First Impressions:
This Emma Mackey movie hit all the right notes as a semi-biographical take on the life and times of the legendary English novelist and poet Emily Brontë (1818-1848). The prolific and inspiring author is best known for classic literature like "Wuthering Heights", "Jane Eyre", "Emma", and assorted poems. This movie beautifully dramatized romance and family elements, enough to make most Brontë fans smile.
The Crew: Frances O'Connor did almost miraculous work bringing this story to life, and making it feel credible and compelling. As both writer and director, she aced at doing both.
Abel Korzeniowski's musical scoring was faultless.
Sam Sneade's editing was amazing.
Nanu Segal's cinematography was engaging and all-encompassing.
Steve Summersgill's production design was superb.
Michael O'Connor's costume design was excellent.
The art direction and set decoration teams did great work.
Sound effects and hair-makeup were quite good.
The Cast: Emma Mackey as the titular Emily Brontë was a revelation. She was natural, believable, and emotive in all the right ways without coming across as a caricature.
Oliver Jackson-Cohen as William Weightman (the love interest and new curate) was noteworthy.
Fionn Whitehead as Branwell Brontë (the brother) was amazing. His screen presence and line deliveries had an aura all their own, especially when juxtaposed with the rest of the cast.
Alexandra Dowling as Charlotte Brontë (the older sister) was great.
Adrian Dunbar as Patrick Brontë (the father and reverend) was good.
Sacha Parkinson as Ellen Nussey (Charlotte's secret lover) was notable.
Amelia Gething as Anne Brontë (the younger sister) was good.
Gemma Jones as Branwell (the aunt) was also good.
Plot Summary & Analysis: "Emily" was based on a real-life person who was known for being revolutionary and prolific at a time when it was severely frowned upon for women to do anything but become stay-at-home wives. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but this particular woman wanted something different for herself.
The story bloomed into an exciting, inspiring, and meaningful semi-biographical drama of what the real Emily Brontë may have experienced and overcome growing up. She was a misfit verging on outcast, and a rebel through and through. For all that, the lingering mystery around the woman still persists to this day.
While not everything you see in this movie can be considered solid fact, it nonetheless blended truth and realism with a touch of logical speculation, and did so in admirable ways. The possibility of Emily being a closeted bisexual was completely avoided.
I say 'possibility' because her older sister Charlotte Brontë (played in this movie by Alexandra Dowling) did indeed have relations with an Ellen Nussey (played in this movie by Sacha Parkinson), and that Emily herself used more than a few same-sex elements in her writing.
Whether it was inspired by things she'd observed in her sister's secret life or if Emily herself harboured similar feelings for other women, none can definitively tell. There was still the possibility that Emily may have been bisexual. This was indirectly emphasized in this movie through her passionate desire for William Weightman (Oliver Jackson-Cohen).
The locations in West Yorkshire were soul-satisfying to watch. The characters and music beautifully complemented every shot, especially some of the panoramas.
All in all, "Emily" was a simple and linear story that has to be seen from the eyes of those who lived in that era. Only then will anyone truly be able to appreciate the depth of meaning contained in this retelling of Emily Brontë's life.
The movie also needs to be seen from a human-experience angle. After all, most of us have had situations that involved forbidden romances, strict familial duties, feelings of being trapped, being called a disgrace, harbouring erotic desires, and so on. All of these and more were captured humanely and from a simplified perspective in "Emily".
Final Notes: Little is known for a fact about this prolific and provocative author who died too young. She was about 30 years old when she perished from tuberculosis. In the years that followed her passing, this singular woman's life grew into a source of celebration and motivation for women and men alike, especially writers.
The movie took simple and almost mundane situations and made them seem serious and consequential. It was (historically) challenging for people living in the rural countryside way back when to cherish even the little things they liked. Goes to show just how strict everything used to be, and how good so many of us have it today.
I also liked how they made it so Emily would end up inspiring Charlotte to start writing and tell the stories she used to share with Emily when they were kids. In fact, near the end of the movie, plenty of poignant scenes and losses enriched the script and made me feel like I was part of something huge. Call it, a moment in history. Anyway, how accurate some of the scenes were can't really be confirmed.
"Emily" captured plenty of good, bad, and ugly moments in the writer's life. Though it was a slow movie, it was also a triumph in filmmaking, thanks in large part to exemplary writing, smart directing, simple storytelling, and empathic performances.
The Crew: Frances O'Connor did almost miraculous work bringing this story to life, and making it feel credible and compelling. As both writer and director, she aced at doing both.
Abel Korzeniowski's musical scoring was faultless.
Sam Sneade's editing was amazing.
Nanu Segal's cinematography was engaging and all-encompassing.
Steve Summersgill's production design was superb.
Michael O'Connor's costume design was excellent.
The art direction and set decoration teams did great work.
Sound effects and hair-makeup were quite good.
The Cast: Emma Mackey as the titular Emily Brontë was a revelation. She was natural, believable, and emotive in all the right ways without coming across as a caricature.
Oliver Jackson-Cohen as William Weightman (the love interest and new curate) was noteworthy.
Fionn Whitehead as Branwell Brontë (the brother) was amazing. His screen presence and line deliveries had an aura all their own, especially when juxtaposed with the rest of the cast.
Alexandra Dowling as Charlotte Brontë (the older sister) was great.
Adrian Dunbar as Patrick Brontë (the father and reverend) was good.
Sacha Parkinson as Ellen Nussey (Charlotte's secret lover) was notable.
Amelia Gething as Anne Brontë (the younger sister) was good.
Gemma Jones as Branwell (the aunt) was also good.
Plot Summary & Analysis: "Emily" was based on a real-life person who was known for being revolutionary and prolific at a time when it was severely frowned upon for women to do anything but become stay-at-home wives. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but this particular woman wanted something different for herself.
The story bloomed into an exciting, inspiring, and meaningful semi-biographical drama of what the real Emily Brontë may have experienced and overcome growing up. She was a misfit verging on outcast, and a rebel through and through. For all that, the lingering mystery around the woman still persists to this day.
While not everything you see in this movie can be considered solid fact, it nonetheless blended truth and realism with a touch of logical speculation, and did so in admirable ways. The possibility of Emily being a closeted bisexual was completely avoided.
I say 'possibility' because her older sister Charlotte Brontë (played in this movie by Alexandra Dowling) did indeed have relations with an Ellen Nussey (played in this movie by Sacha Parkinson), and that Emily herself used more than a few same-sex elements in her writing.
Whether it was inspired by things she'd observed in her sister's secret life or if Emily herself harboured similar feelings for other women, none can definitively tell. There was still the possibility that Emily may have been bisexual. This was indirectly emphasized in this movie through her passionate desire for William Weightman (Oliver Jackson-Cohen).
The locations in West Yorkshire were soul-satisfying to watch. The characters and music beautifully complemented every shot, especially some of the panoramas.
All in all, "Emily" was a simple and linear story that has to be seen from the eyes of those who lived in that era. Only then will anyone truly be able to appreciate the depth of meaning contained in this retelling of Emily Brontë's life.
The movie also needs to be seen from a human-experience angle. After all, most of us have had situations that involved forbidden romances, strict familial duties, feelings of being trapped, being called a disgrace, harbouring erotic desires, and so on. All of these and more were captured humanely and from a simplified perspective in "Emily".
Final Notes: Little is known for a fact about this prolific and provocative author who died too young. She was about 30 years old when she perished from tuberculosis. In the years that followed her passing, this singular woman's life grew into a source of celebration and motivation for women and men alike, especially writers.
The movie took simple and almost mundane situations and made them seem serious and consequential. It was (historically) challenging for people living in the rural countryside way back when to cherish even the little things they liked. Goes to show just how strict everything used to be, and how good so many of us have it today.
I also liked how they made it so Emily would end up inspiring Charlotte to start writing and tell the stories she used to share with Emily when they were kids. In fact, near the end of the movie, plenty of poignant scenes and losses enriched the script and made me feel like I was part of something huge. Call it, a moment in history. Anyway, how accurate some of the scenes were can't really be confirmed.
"Emily" captured plenty of good, bad, and ugly moments in the writer's life. Though it was a slow movie, it was also a triumph in filmmaking, thanks in large part to exemplary writing, smart directing, simple storytelling, and empathic performances.