A QUIET PASSION – Review

Cynthia Nixon as Emily Dickinson and Jennifer Ehle as her sister Vinnie, in Terrence Davies’ A QUIET PASSION. © A Quiet Passion/Hurricane Films/Courtesy of Music Box Films.

Early in A QUIET PASSION, we see the young Emily Dickinson being expelled from a women’s college for her defiant, free-thinking attitude. It is not how we usually see the poet portrayed, and one of the refreshing aspects of director Terence Davies’s insightful, surprising biography.

Those expecting a depressing, claustrophobic slog through the life of Emily Dickinson will be very surprised by A QUIET PASSION. Davies presents a witty young Emily, who is irresistibly energetic and frankly laugh-out loud funny. Cynthia Nixon turns in a stellar performance as Dickinson, in this wonderful drama from the acclaimed British director of HOUSE OF MIRTH and last year’s SUNSET SONG. If you only know the actress from SEX IN THE CITY, this role will be a revelation.

The film’s title is a bit misleading, as Dickinson and her passion for literature and life is it is often not quiet. The film depicts the life of the poet, who spent her whole life in her family home and did not achieve recognition for her great talent until after her death, but this lively drama brings out Dickinson’s sharp wit, intellectual independence, close family relationships as well as her tragic end. Rather than the picture of a shy recluse, the drama portrays Dickinson as a lively, charming young woman disdainful of a conventional life and suitors, a first-rate intellect whose ambitions were thwarted more by societal constraints placed on women than mere reticence. As the film unfolds, we see how circumstances, social pressure and declining health contributed to the reclusive later life that is all one usually hears mentioned.

Jennifer Ehle plays Dickinson’s sister Lavinia, known as Vinnie, while Emma Bell plays the young Emily. Keith Carradine plays her father, who encourages and protects her. When he dies, his loss creates a turn in the family’s fortune in this patriarchal society where women have few rights and are dependent on a husband or father for financial support.

The first half of the film is great fun, and a wholly unexpected view of the poet. With her friends and sisters, she runs playful rings around her more conventional, less-brilliant neighbors. But all takes a darker turn after the death of her beloved father and later in life, calling on Nixon to transform this lively care-free woman into one bravely struggling, pressed down by declining health and diminished opportunities.

Davies’ direction creates a full world around Dickinson, aided by Florian Hoffmeister’s gorgeous photography and exteriors shot in the poet’s hometown of Amherst. This British production about the American poet brings to the fore the inequities of the time, but also the independent spirit that is heard in her poetry. Spirituality has a large role in the Dickinson household but Emily is no submissive wallflower. Devoted to her father and family, she also exudes a sense of fun and disdains those she deems intellectually inferior to her own lively household.

A fan of Dickinson’s poetry, Terrence Davies wrote the script with Cynthia Nixon in mind, struck by the actress’ resemblance to the poet. As it turned out, Nixon was also a fan of Dickinson’s work. Nixon’s acting is outstanding, bringing out layers of strength and pathos in the character later in life.

A QUIET PASSION has all the period details and lush appearance one might expect in a historical biography, but it also has an undiluted view of the realities of 19th century life. There is a feminist thread in its depiction of the limits placed on women, as well as time period’s reality of the suddenness of death, and the way a single event could transform a comfortable life to one of hardship.

If the film has a flaw, it may be that we hear too little of Dickinson’s poetry. However, we do get a sense of Dickinson as a writer, one who is exacting, hard-working, and professional. The poet was willing to take on big philosophical themes like eternity, but crafted poems that are also intensely personal, vivid and mysterious.

The famous reclusive life comes later, after the death of her father and as she ages. Nixon powerfully conveys her struggles as her writings are rejected, she shunned as a spinster, and her health problems multiply. Late in the film, her illness dominates, creating physical misery that would make anyone want to withdraw from the world. This last phase of her life is presented in such a harsh, even graphic light, that some audience members may recoil. The film is unblinking in its depiction of illness in this pre-modern medicine era, and the film may have one of the most prolonged, realistic and difficult-to-watch death scenes of any drama.

More than fans of the poet will embrace this intelligent, top-notch film, which might spark a new interest in her works. A QUIET PASSION is an excellent drama with a powerful, multi-layered performance by Cynthia Nixon, a film in which director Terrence Davies sets aside the genteel prettiness that one might associate with Emily Dickinson’s life and brings to the forefront her genius, independence and pathos.

Rating: 4 1/2 out of 5 stars