Wetherby (1985)

From acclaimed writer/director David Hare  (The Hours, Damage) comes Wetherby, the compelling story of Jean Travers (Vanessa Redgrave), a schoolteacher whose life changes completely when a young man breaks into her home, and then kills himself right in front of her for no apparent reason. As Jean’s friends (Judi Dench and Ian Holm) struggle to help her, Jean is drawn deeper and deeper into a web of memories and deceptions. Vanessa Redgrave (Howards End, Camelot, The Bostonians) delivers a superb performance in Wetherby, a taut psychological drama that will keep the viewer guessing until the film’s final moments.

BORING AND AWEFUL!!!

This movie has got to be one of the worst movies I have ever seen. It seemed by the description to be worth watching, but trust me, it's more exciting watching paint dry than wasting time on this junk. How many times can a person watch people walk? The only part that peaks interest is the beginning, where the guy shoots himself. I cannot believe there are people who like this movie!!! If you don't believe me, go ahead, watch it....you WILL be sorry you did.

March 26, 2008

"Never dreamt. Never thought any such happiness possible, hiding in the dark . . ."

"Life is dangerous. Don't you realize that sometimes there's nothing you can do?"
"That's not true. I think you can always limit the danger."

I had thought I might not write more reviews on this account, but this movie gave me little choice. There are spirits that, for reasons I don't fully understand, I have let in. And I would be unfaithful and unfair to them if I did not discuss this excellent film.

As Vanessa Redgrave's character says: "A new lock? The chances of the same thing happening again? Anyway, well I let him in. It doesn't matter how well you're locked up. At times you're always going to have to let people in." And if you have let someone in, this movie explores the question: How do we best respond to all the people we have let in? And how do our communication patterns potentially affect those people?

You'd think I'd be satiated with art because I have experienced so much of the best of it. But I choose not to refuse great art. I'm always letting in one more beautiful work of art.

"Well, I'll make some tea."

I've never "cautioned" viewers from considering taboo, mature, or violent material. But I will make a strong exception here: If you (or someone watching the film with you) are someone who has experienced a suicide in your family, and if you have not fully faced that circumstance and its endless repercussions, then I urge you to NOT watch this film until you have done extensive counseling. And even then, I caution you. This is not a spoiler, because this plot point is mentioned on the movie's description: There are multiple graphic scenes where a man commits suicide. But even more challenging for victims of suicide's effects is the detailed discussion of the possible rationales and causal factors for the suicide. However, if you are someone who is trying to understand the social and emotional effects of suicide on a family and their social community, this is a worthwhile film.

This movie drew in Britain's top acting talents, including Vanessa Redgrave, Ian Holm, Judy Dench, and a very, very young looking Tom Wilkinson. Vanessa Redgrave is beautiful as always. She has always reminded me of someone I knew. "A good woman - chosen for some reason as the victim of the ultimate practical joke." And Joely Richardson, her daughter, is also captivating playing the same character in her youth. "I think it was more what we shared . . .a feeling for solitude."

The writer/director is so compassionate to every character he created (even the suicidal man, his non-communicative girl friend, & the policeman's girlfriend). There are so many quotable lines in this film, but brevity leads me to omit them. The suicidal man doesn't define key concepts with any complexity, and in my opinion, that is a critical error for him. The hyperbole of his clumsy and overly simplified definitions lead him to terrible misunderstandings.

Watching the young lead character not speak her wishes as her lover goes off to war should break any soldier's spouse's heart, and encourage them to not be silent in similar situations.

"Turns out I was a sub plot. The real story was happening elsewhere."
"Oh that's a terrible feeling."

I worship art and drama because they have taught me things I would not have learned otherwise. The movie suggests that silences and poor communication tend to destroy. Frank communication in times of major decisions can prevent unnecessary harm and loss of life.

"Don't you think we should be sensible?"
"No."

Vanessa Redgrave, after surviving the loss of her fiance, years of living alone, sexual assault, and witnessing a suicide in her home, still finds hope in the end: "For those of us still remaining, us maniacs . . . eccentrics . . . folk who still think education is worthwhile, I suggest we keep trying."

Yes, I suggest we keep trying, sharing the best ideas we encounter. Love always. August 10, 2006

Redgrave gives a fantastic performance

Besides qualms with the musical score, Wetherby has a killer script, intriguing editing, fantastic acting (Vanessa Redgrave is incredible), and a compelling idea driving the film. I liked the echoes of film noir in the intense, high-contrast lighting; the starkness of the violence was perfect, especially when combined with naked silence. It is more than a story about a disturbed young man who shoots himself in front of an aging school teacher, Jean Travers (Redgrave). That comes early in the film. It is about the psychological consequences for Jean in her life and past that are violently revealed through that shocking act. Life can never be normal again. Beneath even the most pleasant veneer lurks sadness, secrets, and dark sexuality. May 19, 2005

OVERLOOKED AND RIVETING

Vanessa Redgrave is spinster school teacher Jean Travers in David Hare's engrossing, overlooked, WETHERBY (Home Vision). This 1985 drama from the director of "The Hours" concerns the impact on Travers' life when a young man -- an apparent stranger -- breaks into her home, and shoots himself in her presence. Judi Dench and Ian Holm are Travers' good friends who -- much like Biblical Job's comforters -- try and help her cope and understand as she finds herself drawn deeper and deeper in a flood of memories and nightmares of unfulfilled love, longing and deceptions. Redgrave and her daughter Joely Richardson are utterly riveting in this superb and increasingly tense psychological drama that keeps its tantalizing secrets almost until the final fade out.

No extras on sharp looking transfer, but box includes a printed intro by Hare and an unusually insightful essay ("Have You Been True To Me?") by Brian Mcfarlane.
November 24, 2004

One of my favorites from the 1980's

I agree with the reviewer SILVOX, this has long been an overlooked film. I saw it when the film was first released in the theatres, I then owned an VHS copy, and I was happy to finally get the DVD release. The movie examines human loneliness through the life and love affairs of the various characters. Venessa Redgrave and her daughter, Joely Richardson, were both spectacular in the movie. The music score and the camera work were outstanding. November 7, 2002

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