At last, after many months of waiting, I have finally seen what I knew would be an astronomical improvement over the embarrassing Les Soeurs Brontë (see my review of that for details)! Now, it's pitifully easy to make a better biopic than Les Soeurs, so we should approach To Walk Invisible by comparing it directly to the history.
I had a feeling this film would excise the Belgium era of Charlotte and Emily's lives completely, and it did. (Monsieur Héger isn't even shown!) Many juicy incidents from before and after this film takes place are excised, but the narrower focus prevents the pacing issues Les Soeurs had. Besides, no one recounted Charlotte's earlier life better than Charlotte herself. I have a feeling Ms. Wainwright knows that. The storytelling choices of this film only call attention to the need for a Villette adaptation (Villette was largely inspired by Charlotte's time in Brussels.) Ms. Wainwright, you know what to do!
Truth be told, I still am not very interested in watching Branwell's descent into nothingness, but I guess it should be there if it was so devastating to the sisters. The greatest joy of this film is the clear extreme love the people making it have for the subject matter. Anyone intimately familiar with the Brontë mythos will recognize little historical details woven into the background and dialogue, such as the "Gun Portrait" hanging in the house. The most amusing of these is Arthur Bell Nichols, a minor character in this but Charlotte's eventual husband. I can tell they cast a noticeably handsome actor in that part so we wouldn't imagine Charlotte making whoopee with an unattractive man after all she suffered.
Another great strength of the film is the way it looks. Both the cinematography and the 21st- century matte paintings convey the majesty and bleak beauty of the Yorkshire landscape. And, as with all good period pieces, I coveted the sister's costumes. While we're on the subject of looks, I was pleased that Anne was the only conventionally pretty sister.
My one big issue is the final scene, where we see the house as it is today. I'd wanted to save the surprises of Haworth for when I went there myself!
The acting and directing were such that I was not conscious of there being actors separate from the historical figures. I was not bored at any point. If there is a better way to relay the story of the sisters' ascent to greatness, I can't think of one. Brava, Sally Wainwright!
I had a feeling this film would excise the Belgium era of Charlotte and Emily's lives completely, and it did. (Monsieur Héger isn't even shown!) Many juicy incidents from before and after this film takes place are excised, but the narrower focus prevents the pacing issues Les Soeurs had. Besides, no one recounted Charlotte's earlier life better than Charlotte herself. I have a feeling Ms. Wainwright knows that. The storytelling choices of this film only call attention to the need for a Villette adaptation (Villette was largely inspired by Charlotte's time in Brussels.) Ms. Wainwright, you know what to do!
Truth be told, I still am not very interested in watching Branwell's descent into nothingness, but I guess it should be there if it was so devastating to the sisters. The greatest joy of this film is the clear extreme love the people making it have for the subject matter. Anyone intimately familiar with the Brontë mythos will recognize little historical details woven into the background and dialogue, such as the "Gun Portrait" hanging in the house. The most amusing of these is Arthur Bell Nichols, a minor character in this but Charlotte's eventual husband. I can tell they cast a noticeably handsome actor in that part so we wouldn't imagine Charlotte making whoopee with an unattractive man after all she suffered.
Another great strength of the film is the way it looks. Both the cinematography and the 21st- century matte paintings convey the majesty and bleak beauty of the Yorkshire landscape. And, as with all good period pieces, I coveted the sister's costumes. While we're on the subject of looks, I was pleased that Anne was the only conventionally pretty sister.
My one big issue is the final scene, where we see the house as it is today. I'd wanted to save the surprises of Haworth for when I went there myself!
The acting and directing were such that I was not conscious of there being actors separate from the historical figures. I was not bored at any point. If there is a better way to relay the story of the sisters' ascent to greatness, I can't think of one. Brava, Sally Wainwright!