The Review Pages: Carrington

Carrington
Official Polygram Site

Starring: Emma Thompson, Jonathan Pryce, Steven Waddington, Sam West, Rufus Sewell, Penelope Wilton, Jeremy Northam, Peter Blythe, Alex Kingston
Category: Drama
Rating: R
Released: 1995
Available for rental.

It's very difficult to believe that this film takes only two hours. Rather it seemed an eternity passed by as the tape heads turned. The two hours did not pass reel-time, as a film encapsulation, but rather in real-time years - 17 of them to be precise - right along with the characters. It was tedious and frustrating, and the division of years by placards at the beginning of each new "section" did not help. At the end, when the end finally came, I was left with only one thought. "Why?" Why would a woman spend years of her life in half-full fashion mooning for a man she could never have? And why would this woman even continue to torture herself over a man that would never - could never - return her feelings in the physical way such devotion surely requires?

Thompson woodenly plays Dora Carrington, a promising painter who while young, and I assume still impressionable, meets one Lytton Strachey, writer. Students of English literature will recognize the name in relation to the Bloomsbury Group, a friendly collection of artists and authors of the 1920s. One might also recall that Strachey was not the type of man to be interested in women. The relationship between Carrington and Strachey (Pryce, Acura commercials?) is best described as bizarre. The film is based on their true story, but leaves out much of the sexless passion and affinity that surely marked this non-conformist pair in true life.

Carrington's portrayal is underdeveloped - my plaintive query is never answered. It's too trite an explanation to say that Carrington looked for satisfaction or even love in other places because she was getting none from Strachey. It's also pat to say that she was a product of her era, when she clearly was not.

Carrington paints, sometimes. She rides horses, sometimes. She marries, don't get me started here. She takes lovers, occasionally. But, for the main part, she yearns for Strachey - and I am never told why. There are not even bread crumbs laid down by which I could find my own answer. I never discovered who Dora Carrington was, and I can only come away from this film wondering if she ever did either.

Others in the film include an ensemble of supporters, each serving as a pivot of sorts to either bring the principals together or keep them apart. Notable among these are Alex Kingston, recognizable as ER's Dr. Elizabeth Corday, and Jeremy Northam. Northam appears briefly as Beacus Penrose, the "most exciting man" for Carrington, but - cruel irony! - also one who found she held no sexual attraction for him, despite their very close relations. Not being attractive to the men she wanted seems to have been a theme in this woman's life. The R rating is for nudity, sexual content, and adult themes, but you'll fall asleep long before you get corrupted.

Thumbs decidedly down.