The author, philosopher, art critic, historian and social commentator John Ruskin was one of Victorian Britain's great public intellectuals, so when his young wife Euphemia ("Effie") petitioned for the annulment of their marriage on the grounds of non-consummation this caused one of the great public scandals of the age. Effie accused her husband of being impotent; he countered with the mysterious allegation that her body had some "disgusting feature" which rendered her less than a woman. (As Effie was noted for her beauty, this allegation was greeted with some bemusement). Ruskin also accused his wife of adultery with the artist John Everett Millais, but a medical examination which revealed she was still a virgin both refuted this accusation and proved the truth of Effie's own assertions.
This film tells the story of the love triangle from Effie's point of view. The script was written by Emma Thompson, who also appears in the film in a supporting role. (Thompson appears to have an interest in art; she also produced and starred in "Carrington" about the early twentieth- century painter Dora Carrington). I had always imagined Ruskin's marriage to be a May-December affair between an innocent young girl and a man old enough to be her father, but in fact the age difference between the couple was only nine years. Much of the problem seems to have been that they did not have a home of their own, living with Ruskin's parents who seemed to disapprove of their son's marriage and did not put themselves out to make Effie feel welcome.
The film appears to have divided opinion; I note that the fact that one of the main characters is a painter has prompted some armchair critics to reach for that old "watching paint dry" comparison, which I felt was a trifle unfair. Admittedly the director Richard Laxton does sometimes seem to take an over-leisurely approach to his subject, but there are compensations. The film is mostly visually attractive, especially in the scenes set in Scotland where Laxton appears to have been influenced by Millais' great series of Perthshire landscapes, paintings which rank among his greatest artistic achievements, even though they are much less well known than his earlier Pre-Raphaelite pictures. (Millais can now be seen as one of our greatest 19th century artists, worthy to rank alongside Constable and Turner, but for many years his later work tended to be undervalued following severe contemporary criticism from the likes of Morris and his former champion Ruskin, who had obvious personal motives for denigrating his ex-wife's second husband).
The acting is generally of a high standard, especially from Greg Wise (previously best known to me as Mr Emma Thompson) as Ruskin. As portrayed here, Ruskin emerges not as a deliberately cruel man but as a cold one, an other-worldly intellectual with little interest in women, in love or in sex, and living under the thumb of his domineering mother (played, in another fine performance, by Julie Walters). Wise is rather older than the historical Ruskin would have been during this period of his life, but this does not really matter because the intention seems to have been to show him as a man old before his time. He also achieves a convincing likeness to the historical Ruskin, something which cannot be said for Tom Sturridge as Millais. (Sturridge is dark and bearded, Millais was blond and clean-shaven). The American actress Dakota Fanning plays Effie with a convincing English accent, but shouldn't someone have told her that Effie was actually Scottish? Or was this a deliberate move on the part of the producers to make the film more acceptable to American audiences, who traditionally have difficulties with British regional accents? (It is said that Cheryl Cole's Geordie accent was the real reason behind her sacking from the American version of "The X Factor").
After years of dealing with literary subject-matter, the British "heritage cinema" movement now seems to have moved on to the Victorian art world; Mike Leigh's biography of Turner is to follow shortly. "Effie Gray", however, is not principally about art; Millais is only a subsidiary character. Ultimately it is a psychological study or, to borrow Nigel Nicolson's phrase, a "portrait of a marriage". 6/10
This film tells the story of the love triangle from Effie's point of view. The script was written by Emma Thompson, who also appears in the film in a supporting role. (Thompson appears to have an interest in art; she also produced and starred in "Carrington" about the early twentieth- century painter Dora Carrington). I had always imagined Ruskin's marriage to be a May-December affair between an innocent young girl and a man old enough to be her father, but in fact the age difference between the couple was only nine years. Much of the problem seems to have been that they did not have a home of their own, living with Ruskin's parents who seemed to disapprove of their son's marriage and did not put themselves out to make Effie feel welcome.
The film appears to have divided opinion; I note that the fact that one of the main characters is a painter has prompted some armchair critics to reach for that old "watching paint dry" comparison, which I felt was a trifle unfair. Admittedly the director Richard Laxton does sometimes seem to take an over-leisurely approach to his subject, but there are compensations. The film is mostly visually attractive, especially in the scenes set in Scotland where Laxton appears to have been influenced by Millais' great series of Perthshire landscapes, paintings which rank among his greatest artistic achievements, even though they are much less well known than his earlier Pre-Raphaelite pictures. (Millais can now be seen as one of our greatest 19th century artists, worthy to rank alongside Constable and Turner, but for many years his later work tended to be undervalued following severe contemporary criticism from the likes of Morris and his former champion Ruskin, who had obvious personal motives for denigrating his ex-wife's second husband).
The acting is generally of a high standard, especially from Greg Wise (previously best known to me as Mr Emma Thompson) as Ruskin. As portrayed here, Ruskin emerges not as a deliberately cruel man but as a cold one, an other-worldly intellectual with little interest in women, in love or in sex, and living under the thumb of his domineering mother (played, in another fine performance, by Julie Walters). Wise is rather older than the historical Ruskin would have been during this period of his life, but this does not really matter because the intention seems to have been to show him as a man old before his time. He also achieves a convincing likeness to the historical Ruskin, something which cannot be said for Tom Sturridge as Millais. (Sturridge is dark and bearded, Millais was blond and clean-shaven). The American actress Dakota Fanning plays Effie with a convincing English accent, but shouldn't someone have told her that Effie was actually Scottish? Or was this a deliberate move on the part of the producers to make the film more acceptable to American audiences, who traditionally have difficulties with British regional accents? (It is said that Cheryl Cole's Geordie accent was the real reason behind her sacking from the American version of "The X Factor").
After years of dealing with literary subject-matter, the British "heritage cinema" movement now seems to have moved on to the Victorian art world; Mike Leigh's biography of Turner is to follow shortly. "Effie Gray", however, is not principally about art; Millais is only a subsidiary character. Ultimately it is a psychological study or, to borrow Nigel Nicolson's phrase, a "portrait of a marriage". 6/10