Carrington | | Cast : | Emma Thompson, Jonathan Pryce | | Director : | Christopher Hampton | | Studio : | Mgm/Ua Studios | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen | | Released Date : | November 10, 1995 | | DVD Released Date : | January 07, 2003 | | Language : | French (Subtitled), English (Dubbed), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), English (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | August 09, 2005 | | Summary | Carrington does it with everyone | Content
 | Let's get something straight. The film is not a biography of Dora Carrington. Her art and early life is hardly mentioned at all. Okay, it's a sexual biography of Carrington. Dora Carrington was an artist but that part of her life was minimized and only her sexual behavior was examined. It's one more phony feminist film. Actually it was one of the first. From the title, you'd think it was a biography of a woman artist, but that's a ruse. It's nothing but celebrity snooping, imagined with 1920's costumes, nice art direction, and pretentious music. Dora does it in the barn. Dora does it in a hotel. Dora does it everywhere, but not with the guy she loves. She loves a gay man, so she's so frustrated, she does it with everyone else. This is the movie's theme! This is junk and has nothing to do with art or literature. Why attach a literary gloss to this? The only intelligent portrayal in the film was that of Lytton Strachey.
Strachey's wit was phenomenal. His intellect was fascinating. His sexual interests and relationship with the Carrington character (who struck me as a dimwit) were NOT. The only value of this film was to introduce me to Lytton Strachey. I was so impressed with him, I read "Emiment Victorians" and loved it. It's not at all stuffy, though it sounds like it would be. He's the first of the modern psychological biographers. It's a slap in the face that he would be portrayed in a film this cheesy. |
| Rating | | | Date | September 25, 2004 | | Summary | No, she accepted. It was ghastly. | Content
| 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 ***** |
| Rating | | | Date | May 11, 2004 | | Summary | Loyalty, devotion, and respect personified... | Content
| Carrington, a female painter, falls in love with the gay author Lytton Strachey, and together they create a relationship without boundaries. This boundless love leads Carrington into several love affairs with other men, but it does not wreck Carrington and Lytton's strong affection for one another. Unconditionally Carrington displays her devotion and respect for Lytton who is reciprocal in his loyalty to their relationship. However, the other men in Carrington's life are not as understanding as Lytton as they demand something in return for their love for Carrington. It is these demands that prevent Carrington from developing her other relationships as she has done with Lytton. Carrington is a fabulous narrative of Dora Carrington's life as it displays her life along with her strengths, which offers a good cinematic experience. |
| Rating | | | Date | March 12, 2004 | | Summary | Definitely a Contender | Content
| This film is definitely a contender for the worst film of all time. At the very least its in the top ten. Emma Thompson is a fine actress, perhaps one of the best of her generation, but even she can't make Dora Carrington interesting. Similarly to the much under-rated Jennifer Jason Leigh failed to ignite Dorothy Parker and the Vicious Circle, Thompson just can't make this film take off. Ultimately it is a film about the private lives of two boring, self-absorbed artists. There isn't much for the audience here and even a patient viewer won't be rewarded by the acting. Fine acting without a story is a bit like wine without a bottle. Ultimately just a waste. I gave it one star, and I think that's fair, after all it did have one star: Emma Thompson. Pity she wasn't given any real dramatic material to shine with. |
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