Carrington (1995)

Adrift in a French farce without a sense of humor

This film, "Carrington," displays just about all the virtues and faults of the Merchant-Ivory/Masterpiece Theater genre. It is very earnest, very well acted and very pretty to look upon. It's sometimes quite intelligent. It is also very self-satisfied, very slow and very lacking in humor. It's sometimes very dull, too.

The virtues are just that, virtues. Cumulatively, they build up a lot of credit for this film. The faults, depending on a viewer's personal values, may be regarded as lying somewhere on a scale ranging from irrelevant to fatal. I lean to one extreme. My wife leans to the other.

It might even be argued that the self-satisfaction, the humorlessness are neither more nor less than accurate depictions of Dora Carrington, Lytton Strachey and that whole self-absorbed, sexually-perplexed, navel-gazing crowd of twits at Bloomsbury.

I prefer to regard the director-writer, the actors and the whole production as hopelessly gullible in taking their real life protagonists at their own value. The Woolfs, the Bells, Strachey and Carrington herself would, if given half a chance, express themselves as characters in a drama of high-flown aspirations and tragic consequences. I, on the other hand, tend to view them as puppets in a French farce, albeit one written by D. H. Lawrence.

This film, its settings, its characters and its mind-set bear only the most tenuous connection with the real, tangible world. As W.S. Gilbert might have put it, the film and all those in it yearn for Elysian fields, but ignore the fact that they "can't get'em and would only let'em out on building leases" if they had'em. "Carrington" would be well served by the presence of just such a character as Fitzgerald threw in to add a spice of reality to the slow-simmering gumbo of Gatsby and Daisy and Tom: Nick, the narrator, doubter and conscience--a pallid character, yes, but still a whiff of the tax paying, traffic light-bound workaday world.

As a film, "Carrington" is easy on the eye. Its story is interesting enough, although I can't imagine being drawn back to watch it of my own volition again at any time in the foreseeable future. But even as I question the worth of making the film, I can't deny the high level of skill lavished on it.

I think "Carrington" is a film worth seeing--once. That's good enough for four stars as far as I'm concerned. September 3, 2007

Well written and well acted.

This is a beautifully morose story of painter Dora Carrington; her work, her life, and the love of her life, author Lytton Strachey, who also happens to be homosexual. It is set in World War One England, and it looks as though the film itself could be a work of art. Carrington is full of saturated green landscapes and poetic dialog. Though a bit of a "downer", still worth a box of Kleenex and a month's prescription of Prozac. April 4, 2007

A surprising look inside the nature of Love

'Carrington' belongs to the category of films that are obscure and eccentric, released in small art houses and that most people have never heard of. What a pity. This film presents an alternative twist on the theme of love, interweaving the ever-changing and amorphous desires of people and giving an honest portrayal of the ambiguous sexuality many people feel.

Jonathan Pryce and Emma Thompson team up in an on-screen romance that is both tragic and fulfilling. Lytton Strachey, cold, wise, and homosexual meets promising painter Dora Carrington. She insists on being called by her surname and is even mistaken for a boy by Lytton when he first sees her. Carrington is still a virgin and repels advances by men all the time, and it's driving her boyfriend Mark insane. In desperation, Mark begs that Lytton "work on her a bit". The relationship between Carrington and Lytton is untainted by lust, something Carrington has always objected to. She denies Mark sex because she fears that he will become only sexually interested in her.

Carrington, however, falls undeniably in love with Lytton, which is a slight inconvience considering the fact that he is gay. Still, they begin living together and spend some of the happiest years of their life. A touching moment occurs when Lytton asks Carrington, "Why are you so good to me?" and she replies by showing him the pen wiper which has the words "Use Me" on it. But alas, it must end in tragedy. The parting shot (and sound) of the film is so poignant that it left tears in my eyes.

Emma Thompson carries this film entirely on her shoulders. If not for her performance, this film would not be half as enjoyable. Just watching this woman in front of the camera is absolutely fascinating. Combine that with the idiosyncratic Jonathan Pryce and a wonderful supporting cast and the mixture is very much appropriately off-beat and quirky.

Definitely recommended and a must-see for Emma thompson fans. March 12, 2006

A unique relationship between two extraordinary individuals

It's an odd thing when a film is perfectly cast, painstakingly researched, extraordinarily well-written, and wonderfully acted, that still it should feel a bit lifeless, stolid and conventional, completely unlike the characters it's illuminating. Look-alike Jonathan Pryce as the homosexual Lytton Strachey and the always remarkable Emma Thompson as the passionately heterosexual (Dora) Carrington act their hearts out, bringing vividly and with complete believability to life one of the oddest couples in recent history, but while Christopher Hampton has made his reputation on excellent writing such as we see here, his direction is leaden, and the film is interesting more for the work of the actors and the real people they play, rather than from any great feat of filmmaking. Sadly, not many people saw the film in the theatres despite the achievements of the cast.

Dora Carrington, though a painter of note, was most famous for her life-long, rather self-abasing devotion to Lytton Strachey, the writer of a number of essays and criticisms, who later published a witty expose of four "Eminent Victorians," which was subersive and significant, both literarily and financially. But like many of the Bloomsbury set to which he and Carrington more or less belonged, he was arguably more remarkable for his eccentricity, wit, and whimsical personality than for a rather slender body of brilliant writing. Pryce's portrayal of him is delightfully unrestrained and flamboyant--when he and Ottoline dance at a party, they are a pair of absurdist clowns, having a marvelous time with no concern for anyone else`s opinion. Carrington was his devoted and loving but non-sexual partner (she once described herself as his pen-wiper, there to serve him, asking nothing in return), and between them, at first through her selflessness, then through his own recognition of the rarity of this devotion, there grows a love deeper than most marriages. Sexual passion is something they both choose to deal with independently, and surrounding themselves with lovers who somehow also manage to (mostly) rise above sexual jealousy, they live happily together almost from initial meeting to their deaths.

Her early life gave no clue that she would become such a committed non-conformist. After her graduation from the Slade School of Fine Art in London and the winning of a number of prizes, she was considered a painter of great promise, and became indeed, a quite prolific and interesting painter, but one who never even sought to show her work, despite much interest. Instead she painted to satisfy herself and others, and filled her homes with countless paintings (most famously her portrait of Lytton), especially portraits of friends and lovers, as well as covering every wall and piece of furniture with glorious scenes, delighting everyone who visited.

The two were introduced by Virginia Woolf's sister, Vanessa Bell (Janet McTeer), while Carrington was visiting her and, dressed in men's clothing with her hair shorn in a Dutch boy's bob, she was mistaken by Lytton for a boy--his dismay at learning that the "lovely boy" romping with Nessa's sons is a young woman is amusing. At first Carrington detested him, but they spent a great deal of time with Lady Ottoline (so brutally lampooned by D. H. Lawrence in "Women in Love," she is treated here with great affection). The up-and-coming painter Mark Gertler (played by Rufus Sewell with his usual vigor and intensity), has enlisted Lytton's help in his quest to seduce the reluctant virgin he has spent four years pursuing, so the two are much thrown together and soon discover that they are born soul mates, feeling a great ease and openness with one another.

Eventually they decided to live together, with Carrington doing all the work to transform their first small house into a magical realm, while Lytton supported them with his earnings from the sudden, unexpected success of "Eminent Victorians." They lived in perfect harmony, despite the fact that her physical passion for this man had to be diverted into relationships with other men. She married a man with whom Lytton was more in love than she, and though Rafe Partridge (Steven Waddington) did not requite Lytton's physical passion, he became a steady third in their lives with all three eventually owning their most famous home, Ham Spray House, together. Eventually a fourth was added to the family, when Rafe fell in love with another woman, Frances (Alex Kingston), who managed to fit herself into the household, too (after Carrington`s death, they married). Throughout their years together, both Lytton and Carrington had many lovers, most of whom remained constants in their lives. Several were with him when he died of a sudden and fatal illness, which devastated Carrington. Though stories of her un-witnessed end vary, due to the need of others to try to protect her reputation, what we see in the film is accurate in itself--what happened over the next couple of days is the time about which there are several accounts.

Carrington's generous and loyal nature endeared her to everyone she knew, and she and Lytton were a happy if unusual couple. Thompson plays her with intelligence and a sort of glowing health and energy that seduces us; she lights up the screen, and despite the boyish dress and early gracelessness, her face is as clear and lovely as the summer sky and she utterly convinces us of Carrington's irresistible charm--that many men desired and loved her is hardly surprising. Just as Lytton's fragile frame and effeminate gestures would, in one less brilliant and magnetic, become difficult to live with, his kindness and humor more than make up for any of the extra work others have to do in order to ensure his comfort and security. Even the extra manly Rafe is tolerant of Lytton's slightly silly ways. They all work hard--he is the delicate and difficult center of everyone's world, at least externally, but as we get deeper into the relationship, we see that without Carrington, he might very well have been lost to ill-health and a tendency to melancholia--she may appear to be the satellite revolving him, but a greater insight reveals that she is the solid rock upon whose stability he is entirely reliant.

The film does capture the feeling of camaraderie that the Bloomsbury artists shared, their refusal to participate in the horrors of World War I, their solidarity despite the constant intrigues and affairs, and gives us some insight into the process of making art, of being artists unafraid to live outside the constraints of society. But most of all, Hampton, Thompson, and Pryce seem to really understand this unique relationship that ran so deep--the two loved and understood one another to a degree rare in life, and they seemed to be aware of this great gift, treasuring it and keeping it strong. Between them there were no secrets, and while Carrington would have loved Lytton as a woman loves a man, she accepted that this wasn't possible, and poured all her passion for him into being his mother, his sister, his dearest friend, his truest companion. Lytton repaid her devotion equally, and allowed her to build around him a real family which supported and loved him, despite his naturally solitary nature.

The cast, the delightful décor of the homes Carrington made chiefly for Lytton`s comfort, the beauty of Carrington's paintings (please be sure to sit through the end titles, when her paintings are displayed side by side with the credits), are the principle reasons to watch this film which is worth owning, as you'll enjoy it more than once, especially if you're an artist yourself. Even if you're not, you may find yourself wanting to grab a brush and turn an old table into a work of art. Despite Hampton's flawed direction, these two people who fashioned a deeply meaningful relationship despite what most would consider built-in "limitations," are fully brought to life by Emma Thompson in the title role, with Jonathan Pryce firmly by her side, as solid and fascinating as Carrington and Lytton. On the cover of a biography of Carrington is a picture of the two together, outside of Ham Spray House; Thompson's glowing smile and Pryce's dandyish pose are perfect. So perfect are they, that only after I opened the book and read that it was a photo, not of the actors, but of Carrington and Lytton themselves, did I realize how perfectly captured they'd been. I think they would have been pleased to see themselves in this film.

February 22, 2006

The Strange Course of True Love

At first the temptation is to see the movie's focus on Carrington's life as a clever ploy to do a biography of her lover, the far more famous Lytton Strachey, but in the end, the movie is really about Carrington.

Like Lytton, she is emotionally unusual. She waits until her mid-twenties to lose her virginity, and when she does, she finds she is subject to the unbridled passions of every lover who comes her way. Only Lytton, who is openly homosexual, cherishes her the way she wants to be cherished, in ways that leave her free to live her own life.

He is her ultimate love. She is his ultimate love. Neither ever fully engage that romanace and yet being afar seems to keep their love for each other real and close.

Carrington is less a movie about an eccentric homosexual writer than it is a movie about a radical feminist who dares to be her own person. She wants to be in charge of her own life, not the object of some one else's passion. In the same way, she wants to paint and create a total living environment through which she can control her world, she wants emotional control over herself.

Lytton lets her do that, because his writing consumes him, and all his boyish lovers are transitory. The amazing decorative arts effects she paints throughout their houses are reminiscent of the Bloomsbury Group in general, but, in the movie, they represent her will be be in charge of her environment. She has no desire to display her work or sell it. She paints her lovers' images to retain them as she remembers them -- without demanding control over them. Only Lytton gives her the same space.

In Lytton's oddly removed love, she finds the one true love that lets her be. While both Lytton and Carrington take other lovers, their relationship is the steadfast calm that guides both of them through storm tempests of hot passion elsewhere.

In the end, the movie Carrington is about Carrington. Anything you take away from the film about Lytton Strachey is truly just background.

January 21, 2006

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