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SYNOPSIS:
Based on the novel by Elizabeth Taylor, set in England, 1905. Angel Deverell is a gifted young writer who dreams of success, fame and love. But what will happen if all her dreams come true? Acclaimed director François Ozon's first English language feature has been selected as closing film at the 57th Berlin International Film Festival, and will screen in the festival's official competition. The story of a destitute-but-determined young woman living in turn-of-the-century England who ascends the social ranks after authoring a series of successful romantic novels. A dreary city tenement provides backdrop to this tale of exclusion and the magic it takes to become accepted. This is the story of a young woman with incredible imagination who refuses to accept the world around her, and creates her own realities.
MOVIE
REVIEW
The source material is Elizabeth Taylor’s 1957 masterpiece, known for its elegance and effortless wit in chronicling the life of a cheesy and absurd romantic novelist of the Edwardian era, a certain Angelica Deverell, otherwise known as “Angel”. The director is Frenchman Francois Ozon, a young male director whose interest in the affairs of the opposite sex is evident in his lauded works such as 8 Femmes and Swimming Pool.
And just as his previous two works, the protagonist in this film, his first English-language feature, is also female. Why then, given the rich source of inspiration he has had to draw from, does this movie seem so vapid and hollow? Why then do we seem to know no better about his main character, Angel, after sitting through her whole life in 2 hours? And most importantly, why is Ozon’s Angel such a pale comparison to its much more brilliant book?
The answer lies in Ozon’s own folly. For one, Ozon’s adaptation lacks the wit that made the novel such a celebrated delight. Angel was a particularly charming character because she boldly challenged the trappings of her social class with her seemingly idealistic dreams and quite miraculously succeeded in realising them. Unfortunately, none of her characteristic humour and intellect seems to have made the leap to screen- without which Angel is simply an impetuous character that’s rather hard to like.
Worse still, Ozon lets Angel drown in melodrama for the latter half of the movie, from her tragic miscarriage to her devastation at the hands of the one and only man she loved and married. Yes, it’s hard to evoke much sympathy for a character that Ozon has failed to make you care much about in the first place. Not even up-and-coming lead actress Romola Garai’s spirited performance can make you care for her character’s circumstances, thanks to Ozon’s listless direction.
Nor do any of the other characters fare any better. Sam Neill’s publisher character Theo, who appears taken by this young precocious lady and audaciously decides to put Angel’s books into print, is sadly underexplored in the movie. Instead, a fair bit of time is devoted to Michael Fassbender’s painter Esme, the man who would take Angel’s heart and then tear it apart- but neither the character of Esme nor her fangirl of a sister, Nora, is compelling enough to hold your attention.
In place of plot and character, all we have to contend with are the lavish sets and costumes used to recreate the era- plus some poorly CG-ed shots of London that are so obvious they are just embarrassing. It’s surprising this movie got chosen as the closing film of the Berlin Film Festival back in 2007- I guess Ozon’s cred had something to do with it. And even more so, for those familiar with Ozon’s works, Angel has got to be considered a disappointment.
SPECIAL FEATURES :
This Code 3 DVD contains no extra features.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The disc’s visual transfer works fine for the movie. The Dolby 2.0 audio is good enough to bring out Philippe Rombi’s lush evocative score.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD
RATING :
Review
by Gabriel Chong
Posted on 31 May 2009
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