Carrington (1995)

hyped garbage

Boring

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

La Ronde on the fringes of Bloomsbury"Carrington" is a sub-Bloomsbury version of La Ronde: X desires Y and sleeps with Z, A wants B, but sleeps with C, and so on and so on. This game of musical beds should carry the film, especially given Jonathan Pryce's uncanny impersonation of Lytton Strachey and Emma Thompson's persuasive Carrington. Add a script and cinematography to fulfill the nostalgia quotient, and le voila: life is lived and art is made en plein air and during an eternal summer; winter seems never seems to intrude, and the "staff" keep discreetly in the kitchen and the basement where they belong. All these Good Things should carry the movie. Alas, they do not. As in all biopics, the writing plays fast and loose with the truth. But was it absolutely necessary to insert two of the most famous Lyttonisms: his account of proposing to Virginia Woolf ('ghastly"), and his declaration that he would try to "come between" his sister and a potential rapist? In this tiny circle, desire balked and desire gratified seem almost incestuous.. And the lack of a coherent narrative leaves us puzzled. For example, Lytton's sudden gift of "a motorcar" to Ralph Partridge is unprepared for and opaque. Is he wooing Partridge? Using Partridge as a pander? Demonstrating uncomplicated generosity? The film's failure to answer questions like these saps its interest. "Carrington"isn't dull, exactly; rather, it's beautiful, nostalgic, and inert.

This movie is taken from the biography Lytton, the movie tells the story of the love of a lady called Dora Carrington and her love for Lytton. The movie has amazing drama from the outset. Lytton is a gay writer who's type is specifically young men, Dora has had many lovers, but they only love her body and not her personality. Its true that Lytton also loves her but he says as he is gay they cannot sleep together because nothing would happen. Their love for each other is not sexual is stronger and deeper than that. Emma Thompson and Jonathan Pryce deserve special mentions for outstanding acting. In fact the entire cast is just superb. But Thomspon and Pryce lead. The story allows you to gain an understanding of the casts feeling without needing to be said. There is an argument because whilst they love each other he is only sexually attracted to men and their is nothing he can do about it.This film is so good it holds your attention from start to finish. Wonderful lovely film.

Very few films send me here curious for reactions. This one did simply because I was wondering if anyone else had the feeling that the main male role was so noisome that how could anybody but a nut find him lovable. Well, that was not the case: most if not all accepted her love for him as something totally understandable. The guy was a jerk. Period. And ugly both inside and out, as well as full of empty comments on the ongoing scene and human dilemma. I kept watching only because of the remarkable performance by Thomson in the, and I do mean THE greatest masochist of all time. And some nice pictorals. That crazy house they lived in was really something. All said, purely my reaction: the guy was just too damned ugly, too not there for anybody with half a brain to want to hang around him long, much less half her life unless she was seriously stupid and sick.

I would like to go back for a moment and dig deeper into the idea of full circle. I caught this idea as I was watching this film, and I thought it was amazing the way the director showed this transition. The first person, outside of Lytton, that Carrington falls for is a man who is only interested in a physical relationship. Although she claims she is not interested in him sexually, it is at this time in Carrington's life, she is interested in a man's mind, not what is under his pants. She breaks off this relationship to live with Lytton, a man who can give her the intellect that she desires. As Carrington grows older, she finds comfort in physical relationships. In fact, the majority of this film is about physical relationships. Carrington is never hesitant to jump into the arms of another man. A part of me thinks that she is constantly trying to find another Lytton out there, but there is another part of me that says that she was just trying to get the physical from men, because she had the perfect man at home (Lytton of course). So after being with a man that only wants to have a physical relationship, she jumps into the arms of a soldier. One that is great with the physical, amazing towards Lytton, and perfect for Carrington. As this comes to a surprising end, we see her jump into a relationship that was purely sexual. There was no interaction between the two except for when they were on his boat having sex. Carrington experiences the best sex of her life with this man, but it again ... much like the others ... comes to a complete halt when he tells her that he is not really interested in her sexually. Odd, isn't how this films started with Carrington and her first boyfriend. We have come full circle. If we were to look at this film in a symmetrical angle, we would notice a circle outside with Lytton in the direct center of this circle. The circle would represent Carrington's life. All around the circle would be the men that she has been with, while Lytton would be her stability point. All throughout her encounters with other men she always is able to find comfort with her center figure ... Lytton. If you watch this film closely, you will notice that there is only one point in the movie where Carrington goes outside the circle. It is when she is having a party at her house. Carrington goes outside only to sit down on a stump that happens to be facing the house. She is able to see all the windows in the house, and all of her past lovers with their new ones. Even Lytton with his new boyfriend.This is the moment that we see Carrington thinking about her life. Seeing what she has been a part of, and watching it somewhat crumble down. This is her only moment outside of the circle that she has built. Lytton is the foundation to this circle, and it is obvious that without Lytton everything around Carrington must crumble as well. That my friends, is how you build a love story. Grade: *** out of *****