Cynthia Nixon Jennifer Ehle Duncan Duff Keith Carradine Jodhi May Catherine Bailey
A quiet passion is not always so quiet,
although it is an apt title to signify a woman whose passions ran so deep, her
family had to calm her down repeatedly, after which she would try valiantly to
keep those passions quiet. In the
end, she was always a stricter judge of herself than of others, and was praised
for the depth of her soul and her honesty.
The American poet Emily Dickinson is stunningly
captured by Cynthia Nixon in Terence Davies’ dramatization of her life in A Quiet Passion. As a female in the late 19th
Century, she was sassy even as a child; but her cheek came from her
intelligence and thoughtfulness.
The aim always seemed to be to gain knowledge rather than to be simply
rebellious. Her father (Carradine)
was remarkably patient and permissive with her, yet he too felt like he had to
set firm limits on her. It was her
sister Vinnie (Ehle) who was most effective in countering her arguments and
mollifying her.
Terence Davies’ dialog in the film, helped
along with Dickinson’s poetic inserts, is smart and sometimes wittily funny,
such as this conversation between Emily and her friend Vryling (Bailey): [Vryling] “In the long term, honesty is
not the best policy.” [Emily] “Is dishonesty?” [Vryling] “I prefer to call it
diplomacy.”
In his writing and direction, Davies gives us a
vivid picture of the poet. In
addition to her pugnacity (Emily was outspoken about religion and her belief in
God, marriage, male/female relationships, and death, for instance), she became
increasingly reclusive as she got older and became more mystified about social
manners and interactions. She
could be rude, but she clearly had a conscience, as when her sister Vinnie
called her on it and when her father scolded her for being rude to the
housekeeping staff. “They’re our
employees; not our servants”, he tells her. She kisses him on his head, and he asks, “What’s that
for?” She answers, “For telling me
the distinction”, after which she apologizes to the help, and tells them to
keep the prize money for her loaf of bread that she’d won. She became increasingly disillusioned
with the world, referring to herself as a “no-hoper” who “knows best how to
starve.” She would say to Vinnie,
“I long for something, but I’m afraid of it.” In short, Emily Dickinson was a bundle of contradictions,
yet had considerable insight about herself.
As noted, Cynthia Nixon gives an award-worthy
performance in fitting herself so thoroughly and neatly into the poet’s
character. Supporting cast
members, Jennifer Ehle, Keith Carradine, and Catherine Bailey add dramatic
flavor to this fascinating story.
The artistic cinematography by Florian Hoffmeister shows many scenes
which could be framed and stand alone as paintings. One in particular is a view of a window with a vase of
flowers, curtained by a fine, sheer fabric, behind which we can see and hear the
minister giving his sermon.
A poetic rendering of images, dialog,
music, and movement to convey the essence of Poet Emily Dickinson.
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