Mrs. Stevens Hears the Mermaids Singing

Exquisitely done. I have seen this film at several festivals, and the experience deepens each time. The cinematography in the flashbacks is gorgeous, the script and acting are riveting, and the emotional and intellectual content substantial. The soundtrack is excellent as well. What a coup to have pulled off this high quality an adaptation of an important novel on an independent film budget! The film paints a portrait of an artist who struggles with society's various expectations and ultimately triumphs. That she happens to love women is distinctive in that there are so many films in which such characters come to bitter and tragic ends. It WOULD be tragic if this film was typecast as a genre film because it most certainly is not. It's more of an art film in the European vein—like Aime and Jaguar. This film deserves a wider audience beyond the festival circuit!!!

As a poet, thinker, and diarist myself, I was affected profoundly by May Sarton's novel Mrs. Stevens Hears the Mermaids Singing. I was hoping that I would love the movie as well, and I was not disappointed. Because of the flashback sequences, it is able to tell two stories at once: it captures both the reflectiveness of the poet in the now and the succulent vigor of the young woman she was. In the meantime it reveals the reflectiveness of the younger Hilary and the continuing vitality of the older Hilary. The pacing reminded me of a Masterpiece Theatre production, as befits the story, however veiled, of a literary figure. I found myself riveted by it, as I was by the novel all those years ago.

This movie gets a 2 from me because it's so earnest and because the flashbacks were beautifully photographed. What might have been an interesting story (I haven't read the book, but now will) is buried in cumbersome directing and editing and a creaky script. The film was interminable. There were too many reaction shots in the interview sequences even when there weren't any reactions. I thought the leading actors were mildly believable, but the others seemed as awkward as high schoolers. I saw this with an enormously respectful audience. I don't know why there wasn't more coughing or sighing or other outright signs of exasperation. Two things in particular made me crazy: a totally gratuitous, but oh-so-tasteful sexual encounter that went on way too long and the reading of long passages of (not very good) poetry that I assume was included to convey the essence of Sarton's novel, but which just stopped the film dead in its tracks. Very disappointing.

This sensitive, compelling and amazingly true-to-the period piece does what every good movie adaptation should do: it remains true to the details and essence of the original, yet offers the filmmaker's skilled vision to soar beyond it.

The movie is at one and the same time a valuable journey into the psyche and sensibility of the artist, a fitting portrayal of a woman who can be categorized fully neither as a lesbian nor as straight woman but must be seen happily simply as a lover, and a beautiful, well-paced stroll through the between-the-World-Wars period of the English speaking world.

Mrs. Stevens is worth seeing...in fact it's worth seeing repeatedly for all the nuances of dialog and subtleties of setting...and for the sheer beauty of it.

The cast (the older and younger Hilary are both stunning), the writer/director, the producer and all those who helped birth this independent film deserve kudos; the film deserves the widespread distribution that surely awaits it. Its audience among academics, women, artists, and the generally thoughtful is sure to be large. I can't wait to add it to my collection.

Having seen this film a couple of times, I would recommend it to those who just love period pieces and great love stories. This is the love story conversation of your next garden party. It is warm and just beautiful color. It will open your heart and eyes to a kinder more gentle nation. It is amazing what a great book and twenty years of hard work and dedication to ones muse can accomplish. This is proof that you don't need big budgets or fancy Hollywood stars to film a story that will keep you coming back again and again. Mrs. Stevens Hears the Mermaids Singing is the film that I can't wait to add to my DVD collection. For all you independent film producer/director-wannabees, this is all the inspiration you need.