It has been years since a Kenneth Branagh film made me feel something in the way this does. His Hollywood success has also been accompanied by a change in directorial style and a change in his focus on storytelling ... but this film returns to what made him so great early on ... a passion for the subject material. The end result is a period film that feels actually of the period, while also fully modern. Every frame of film is like a historical painting. And the story and characters are fully expressed. Slow, patient, sad, and beautiful - this is a wonderful film with wonderful writing, acting and directing. The pacing and editing is deliberate. What some critics have considered to be slow or meandering I would call the story taking it's time and earning it's value. Highly recommended.