All I have to say is that once I saw "A Kelly McGillis Production" on the screen I should have turned it off. Too bad I had to watch it for a class. I have read the book that this is based on, called "The Awakening" by Kate Chopin. The novel is very good and is well-respected. It made me sad to see such a masterpiece butchered by this film. What I hated: The acting, the directing, the cinematography and the fact that EVERYTHING THE BOOK STOOD FOR WAS TRAMPLED BEYOND BELIEF! Despite that fact, the acting was terrible. First off, Madam Ratignolle, played by Glenne Headly, was abominable. For those who like the hear perhaps the worst French accent ever captured on film, I invited you to view this movie. I'm really going to dig in now, and talk about Kelly McGillis. She plays Edna, a confused and unique woman truly finding herself through an emotional "awakening," as Chopin originally intended. McGillis transformed Edna into a confused, unrealistic and terribly shallow excuse for a character. I'm being honest here folks, I honestly think the woman can't act (or at least in this movie). Her performance consists of butchered lines from the novel, spoken while looking off into the distance. After the delivery she will look down, smile to herself and shake her head, often continuing with another terribly adapted line from the film. Another amazingly poor part of this film was the direction. Often scenes would end with the screen going bright white, then fading in on another one. This was not a constant thing however, and any sort of theme it was supposed to represent of highlight is lost upon the viewer. The director seemed to lack any sort of ability to coax decent performances out of the actors, and I highly doubt that she had even read the novel.
One more complaint: the shooting itself. The camerawork was boring, typical and trivial. Also, the exposure was blurry, poorly-focused and B quality. Seriously, I wonder if they even used professional cameras to shoot this.
Overall, Grand Isle is a poor excuse for a movie. McGillis indulges herself in gratuitous nudity, often unrelated to anything that is going on. I am ashamed that one of our film industries would not only approve the script, but let McGillis have ANY sort of creative power over it. Folks, read the book. Pretend the movie doesn't exist. That is all I have to say. Thanks.
