On Chesil Beach - May 18, 2018

[Darth Marcus]

Official Trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZR6DWDfMDlM

Directed by: Dominic Cooke
Written by: Ian McEwan
Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Billy Howle, Emily Watson, and Samuel West
Synopsis: Based on Ian McEwan's novel. In England in 1962, a young couple finds their idyllic romance colliding with issues of sexual freedom and societal pressure, leading to an awkward and fateful wedding night.

[dgoswald]

McEwan and Ronan reunite, hehe.

[Hoke Moseley]

Looks good.

[MikeScott]

Does indeed look good. I'll be seeing it.

[xbs2034]

Saw this movie last night. It spends quite a while (maybe even more than half the running time) on essentially setup, but it pays off. I really loved the last act, and then the performances (which by nature of the story have to be reserved before) shine.

Also, looks lovely visually, I was pretty sure by seeing the movie, and checked the end credits to confirm it was shot on film (had a Kodak film logo).

[ghostsofjoy]

I hope this plays somewhere close enough for me to see it. I'm here for anything Saoirse.

[jacobsever]

This is my least favorite movie of 2018.

I hated the characters so much.
I hate the story.
I hate the way the story is told.

[Britnasty]

Finally opening here....at a theatre that's 45 minutes away in the middle of nowhere. I'm thinking I'll go Monday morning.

[jay166]

I saw this late last year. I didn't dislike it, but I think my expectations were high because of how much I adore Atonement and this doesn't measure up to that. I think I need to watch it again without the expectations.

[jacobsever]

Here is my spoiler and profanity-laden, 0.5/5 review.

https://letterboxd.com/jacobsever/film/on-chesil-beach/

[jay166]

Originally Posted by jacobsever

Here is my spoiler and profanity-laden, 0.5/5 review.

https://letterboxd.com/jacobsever/film/on-chesil-beach/

haha - great review. I didn't feel as strongly the same way as you, but I absolutely get it.

[Dubstar]

I'm not sure what folk were expecting from this movie, once you get the idea where the story is going, you know it's not going to be an uplifting movie. I thought the one aspect that was excellent was the cinematography.

[DeborahTroutman95]

Looks interesting!

[Dr Lenera]

SPOILERS....
I wanted to like this but found it very flawed. The two stars were great [is Saoirse ever anything else?], the period look seemed just right and the 'failed' sex scene was kind of refreshing as well as very well handled. But I couldn't buy the crux of the story - that two people in love would suddenly divorce like that, surely they would have tried to sort things out? Some of the flashbacks just seemed unnecessary while all that dodgy old age makeup at the end meant that I failed to be as moved as I should have been.

I reckon with 15 or so minutes cut from the flashbacks [maybe the stuff with his mum?] and the film ending in the record shop [which would have still told us all we needed to know], it would be considerably better.

[Britnasty]

4.5/5

I found this to be quite extraordinary. It’s a heartbreaking film to say the least on many levels. Howle and Ronan were masterful

[Show spoiler]I know the film isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but I found the use of flashbacks, juxtaposed with the breakdown of a marriage, to be quite painful but also beautiful. The way the script wove Florence’s story of sexual abuse at the hands of her father with her inability to be intimate, while nothing new, was haunting because of Roman. When they’re on the beach and Florence introduces her plan of how sex and their marriage could work, Edward lashed out in anger. Florence shuts down completely because Edward reminds her of her father.

The similar can be said for Howle’s work as Edward. His character longed for normalcy and someone who reminded him of his mother before her accident. The scene of when he introduced Florence to his mother, topless and disheveled as she painted, watching Howle’s face as Florence cleaned his mother up, treated her as a regular person and whipped the house into shape, it was both sweet and heartbreaking.

These were two broken people, unwilling to go the distance, instead doing what they knew best, pushing one another away and shutting down.

I’m glad I had the theatre to myself because between being introduced to Chloe in the record shop, to Edwards monologue with his friends to the final scene, at Florence's Final performance, I was a blubbering mess.

It’s a tale of not letting your guard fully down and letting someone in unconditionally as much as it’s a take if childhood abuse and it’s affects on one into adulthood.

Anchored by two stellar performances, it’s in my Top 5 of the year so far.