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London Film Festival - AMMONITE

Paleontology is a fascinating science. Looking at it in a poetic way, it is about chipping away at the coarse surface of the most unremarkable stones to reveal the treasures hiding underneath that cold crust. When Ammonite’s heroine Mary Anning (Kate Winslet) first appears on screen, trudging along on a windy beach and excavating massive rocks from a pile of mud with her bare hands, the metaphor being established becomes immediately clear. It’s unfortunate, then, that the film never quite manages to let the romance at its core—what should be its pulsating heart—break free from its cold shell.

Francis Lee’s sophomore feature tells a fictionalized account of real-life Mary Anning, a 19th century paleontologist who spends her days collecting and studying fossils on the shores of Lyme Regis, only for her name and efforts to be erased in the all-male British science circles. It’s a solitary existence, one she shares only with her mother (Gemma Jones), but in which Mary seems to be at her most comfortable. It all changes with the arrival of Roderick Murchison (James McArdle), a fellow scientist who wishes to follow Mary along and learn from her work. He is accompanied on his journey by his wife Charlotte (Saoirse Ronan), a fragile, silent figure who, according to Roderick, has been taken over by a “melancholia” that has driven a wedge between them. Charlotte’s sorrow runs much deeper than what her husband cares to acknowledge, and after deeming her unfit to travel, he decides to leave her in Mary’s care, hoping that physical activity and sea air will give him his “bright, funny, clever wife” back. The hardened paleontologist has no interest in coddling Charlotte and the two women’s relationship starts out colder and rougher than the wind battering the shore. However, after Charlotte’s health worsens, Mary finds herself taking care of her and slowly develops a fondness and fascination for the younger girl. In return, Charlotte starts taking interest not only in Mary’s work but in her as a person, too. Their connection builds slowly, across silent gazes and hesitant touches, and eventually something unlocks within them and they cannot help but pour onto each other all the feelings they had repressed for so long.

That Ammonite isn’t as passionate as its premise makes it out to be isn’t necessarily an issue. There is plenty to appreciate in the muted tenderness that marks the building steps of Mary and Charlotte’s relationship, which feels so realistic mainly due to the strength of Winslet and Ronan’s acting; Winslet in particular is incredible in the role. Without uttering a word, she succeeds at conveying the inhibited turmoil of emotions that simmers under Mary’s carapace, and the way she physically reacts to Charlotte touching her for the first time results possibly more heartfelt and erotic than the prolonged sex scene that plays out later on. The problem is that what should be the central dynamic of the film, the love story between Mary and Charlotte, hardly feels central at all. The focus is tightly locked on Mary, on her daily life, the grittiness of her work, the tension between her uncompromising exterior, and her hidden fragility. This makes for the best and most compelling part of Lee’s film, which is aided by a stunning cinematography that complements the tactile nature of Mary’s work and makes the film feel layered and textured through the screen. However, the same care isn’t put in crafting the bond between the two women, and this leaves the narrative feeling unbalanced at the expense of the romance that should be the story’s emotional fuel. What is also misguided is that so much of the movie’s marketing seems to revolve around the talked-about sex scene. While never objectifying despite how explicit it is, it drags along after a point and implements certain choices that seem to want to scream “passion,” but ultimately end up having a distancing effect. It’s also a scene that isn’t all that central to the narrative. Both Winslet and Ronan do incredibly interesting work and it’s a shame to see the more nuanced parts of their performances go understated in favor of discussing the logistics of straight women acting out a lesbian sex scene.

There also seems to be a desire on Lee’s part to move away from the more clichéd elements that often mark narratives of homosexuality in period dramas, like the rejection of feelings considered wrong for the time, the fear of being discovered, or the eventual tragic ending. However, for every stereotype the film tries to defy, others are reinforced, namely in the depiction of femininity and the lack of subtlety with which the patriarchal constraints of the Victorian society are hammered home, and the final result ends up being probably more conventional than what it was aiming for. Ammonite is well intended. It works best in its quiet moments of character exploration, and Winslet’s performance is deserving of all the praise received so far. It is still an impressive second feature, delicate and finely crafted. Its biggest flaw though, with a couple exceptions, is that it doesn’t move the heart.

“He chooses the memory of her. That’s why he turns.

He doesn’t make the lover’s choice, but the poet’s.”

and we love and appreciate u for every single one of those gifsets <3

Thelma saved 2017 so i had  to make a video as a tribute to this wonderful, haunting movie. Norwegian cinema at its best.