Amores Prohibidos

Eva Husson's first English-language film, 'Mothering Sunday,' is a lusty, deeply melancholy portrayal of loss and its lasting impact that often feels disjointed and uneven. It's pretty to look at with impressive performances (and sizzling chemisty) from Odessa Young and Josh O'Connor but, unfortunately, doesn't offer much else.

A young house maid (Odessa Young) to The Nivens (Colin Firth/ Olivia Coleman) visits her lover (Josh O'Connor) for the last time, whilst The Nivens visit the neighbours to celebrate the forthcoming marriage of their son, O'Connor, who obviously is otherwise engaged.

A film you need real patience for, as the bulk of the run time is taken up with a fairly straightforward tale of young lovers within the English upper classes - Upstairs, Downstairs if you will - and gently and nicely done it is.

It is worth waiting though, for quite a long way in, things develop dramatically that you probably won't expect, affecting the young couple, The Nivens and their neighbours which is handled magnificently. Odessa Young does a fine job holding all this together in the starring role, but support from Coleman and Firth is the high point, with a special treat with essentially just one scene featuring the great Glenda Jackson. Overall, slow to be sure, but ultimately cleverly written and rather moving.

I wanted to like this film but it strikes me as an empty book, an idea abut time but with no place to go.

Main story set in 1924 sees the country gentry still reeling from the slaughter of World War I Several families maintain the tradition of a picnic by the river on Mother's Day and recall the times when the children played and swam in the river. They're all dead now except for the youngest (Josh O'Connor), who's about to marry one of the daughters who was engaged to one of the boys now dead.

A maid in the house named Jane (Odessa Young), an orphan who's been "in service" since she was 14, is having a secret affair with the boy and meets with him one last time before he goes to the party to announce his engagement to the young woman.

The lady of the house (Olivia Colman) tells the maid she's lucky to have been an orphan. She can observe life without having to deal with the deaths of loved ones.

Jane eventually leaves the house and goes to work in a bookstore where she meets a philosopher and becomes his lover (there's talk of marriage). We also see Jane as an old woman (Glenda Jackson) who has indeed lived most of her life as an observer and as a famous writer.

Jane's life after she leaves the country house is sketchy and the viewer will likely feel cheated. We're not told very much ... yet the film runs for 104 minutes.

Jane strikes me as a character out of time and place. Would an uneducated house maid in 1924 be this self- possessed and confidant? Were interracial marriages possible in England in the 1930s and 40s? What kinds of books did Jane write? No details.

Young is good and O'Connor is better. Colman and Jackson combined have about 10 minutes of screen time. Colin Firth plays the "lord of the manor," but no one else registers.

There's a reference to Virginia Woolf's "Orando" and I guess that's meant to be a clue. Jane is a character out of time. Time is fluid and has no temporal barriers.

So this film is simply gorgeous.

It has a period feel but isn't stuffy. There are as many scenes without clothes as with them - and the actors are beautifully unselfconscious and believable.

The Nivens: an unfathomably brittle, broken and grieving mother (Olivia Coleman) and gentle, empty and lost father and husband (Colin Firth) are exquisitely cast and played - Firth visibly flinches in pain and empathy as Cole snaps at his continued efforts at politeness and generosity to friends. Their lack of sons is palpable in Firth's playing or Mr Niven's gentle paternal encouragement of all the young people they share their lives with (the maid and narrator included) and Cole's sharp silence.

The character of the narrator binds the temporal shifts together as we see how the events of one day can impact a whole life. Amazing acting from Odessa Young makes this film a joy to watch.

The only complaint is the slightly obvious addition of the narrator as an old woman (Glenda Jackson) - this trope is, no doubt, in the source material but could have been omitted as it only serves to make the structure a little cliched.

Otherwise a wonderful and sumptuous - and incredibly well acted - film which is well worth watching over and over again .

Lots of earthy cinematography... very decent acting and an interesting story... a movie to just relax and ponder. The weaving of nude shots of Odessa Young are masterful... done with taste... while not taking over the story. A lot of character building in such a short time.