Emily

Emily is a great period drama that announces writer/director Frances O'Connor as someone with clear talent and one to watch and further proves lead actress Emma Mackey's burgeoning stardom with a story that's funny, tragic and full of natural beauty.

Emma Mackey gives a true tour de force performance, earnestly portraying Emily's shy nature and vivid imagination whilst also having an infectious rapport with Fionn Whitehead (great) and some truly fiery chemistry with Oliver Jackson-Cohen (also great).

Frances O'Connor's direction is excellent, utilising handheld camera work to great effect with some very stylish framing but it does overuse cutting to black. The music by Abel Korzeniowski is amazing, beautifully balancing moments of whimsy with a more classical score.

Over-long, plotless and pointless with a highly improbable, corny drawn out story line. If I had been on my own I would have left an hour and a half earlier!! Overall the acting was mostly wooden with fluctuating accents from main characters. There was far too much atmospheric thunder and heay rain (its not like that in Yorkshire!) in outdoor and some indoor sequences. Predicatble story. Filled with groan inducing cinematic cliches too numerous to list and discuss here. The six star rating is for the authentic looking interior sets and excellent lighting . I sure that I will soon forget it. But some might like it.

"Emily", the debut directorial effort of English-Australian actor, Frances O'Connor, is focused on Emily Bronte from the late teens to the finishing of her only novel "Wuthering Heights". She was the middle of the three remarkable young ladies who made a mark on English literature in the mid 18th century. The movie is worth seeing for the trip back to the time and place, aided by the authentic Yorkshire setting and the excellent cinematography by Nanu Segal. Acting was generally good and Frances shows potential as a director. I felt it could have been a bit shorter and tighter. Music was pleasant and unobtrusive apart from a couple of times it built up to a portentous rumble --and nothing happened.

Emma Mackey looked the part as the introverted but then wilful and free spirited Emily, the 'smouldering' nearing 11. Fionn Whitehead was fine as the wayward artist brother Branwell who was expected to be the shining light. The 'close' relationship between brother and Emily may be largely fiction as was the romance between Emily and the curate. There apparently was some sibling rivalry as suggested in the film, but that is endemic where there are siblings. And Charlotte did value Emily's work.

Despite the liberties with the story, I gained some feeling of the place and time, and more admiration for the achievements of those three young ladies in their brief allotted time. I shall re-read "Wuthering Heights".

Recapping the Brontes; There were 5 progeny. The 2 eldest girls died as children, probably from Tb and possibly helped by the privations of a dodgy 'charity school' for parsons' children. The famous trio were- Charlotte, 1816-1855, -"Jane Eyre"- died at 39.

Emily -"Wuthering Heights"-1818-1848, 30, Tb.

Anne -"Tenant of Wildfell Hall"- 1820-1849, 29, Tb.

One son, Patrick Branwell 1817-1855, 31, Tb.

Their mother died young. They were raised by the widowed parson father and an aunt.

First. The things I liked: the music the costumes the fact that it was filmed in Haworth and roundabouts it's beautifully shot.

However, it veered so far away from anything known about about Emily's character or known facts about the Brontes as to be hilarious!

Snogging your employer's wife in church in Victorian Yorkshire? I don't think so!

Some events and even names lifted straight from Wuthering Heights and presented as real life.

The extremely reserved Emily transformed into a raving hysterical nutter with attachment issues.

Emily and Wuthering Heightskerp inspiring film makers, but anything that does do either justice remains sadly elusive.

This is is well-directed and well acted with beautiful photography. It is loosely based on Emily Bronte's life and depicts events which are mirrored in Wuthering Heights. It is not hard to find factual errors eg.it was Anne who had the relationship with William Weightman, but if you just treat as a story in its own right, it is a great piece of film-making. I was reminded that the films: Becoming Jane and Shakespeare in Love, were also about famous authors used failed romances as the impetus to write. I noticed that the first edition of her book had her own name inside the cover. Like her sisters she wrote under a pseudonym: Ellis Bell.