There are several aspects about this film that I find absolutely clever. First, the way of representing characters' feelings through acting rather than speaking. Helen, Jo or Geoffey's faces give away more than they could say. Helen is a masterpiece of selfishness only by looking at the way she puts on lipstick or combs her hair or lits a cigarette. She's so self-concerned, she never allows Jo into her own body space. At the same time Jo becomes more and more despondent, tragically aware of her mother's lack of love (the acme when she throws away Peter's chocs in Blackpool) and her bent shoulders speak out for her. She carries the weight of being unwanted. Then, the dialogues never convey a proper explanation of things; the characters never explain themselves clearly or are able to articulate a description, crying out for their own feelings. The people in this film don't even know theirs, they haven't got the means to express them and it's up to the watchers to understand everything. Probably that's why I felt so overwhelmed while watching it. I really felt the public was called to read through the lines of such a powerful representation of life.
Review of A Taste of Honey
