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Summary: Angels and Insects
Review: This is a beautifully realized film depiction of the novella "Morpho Eugenia" by the celebrated English novelist A.S. Byatt. The performances are superb, the lush recreation of later Victorian life beautifully rendered, and the enigmatic and shocking elements of the story faithfully depicted. This is an overlooked minor masterpiece. Not for the faint of heart, however.
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Summary: If You Love Period Romance Movies, and I do...
Review: This is a love story set in Victorian England between a poor scholar of insects who has married into a wealthy aristocratic family and their poor relation who lives with them played by Kristin Scott-Thomas. Scott-Thomas is the plainest you've ever seen her but little does that matter. She is superb, as usual. Her character matches the hero intellectually and her longing to be his colleague and partner is palpable. The aristocratic family hides a deep buried secret that plays havoc around this love story but that will lead to a satisfying resolution for the lead characters. This is a very lush, very Victorian era evoking film that plays like a Gothic mystery romance. If you like that kind of thing, and I do, you will really like this film.
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Summary: If you need an excuse to see frontal nudity, this is it.
Review: This is a repellent story about an impoverished Victorian entomologist who falls in love with an aristocrat. The only redeeming value of this movie was to depict in what is probably a realistic way the treatment of servants in that era.
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Summary: A VISUAL AND THESPIAN MASTERPIECE...
Review: This is a stunning period piece, awash with lush scenery and extravagantly beautiful costumes. It is also marvelously acted by all with virtuoso performances by Mark Rylance and Kristin Scott Thomas. The cinematography is breathtaking, and the movie could be characterized as a masterpiece. It is a gem.The storyline revolves about an impoverished naturalist (Mark Rylance) who returns from the far reaches of the Amazon to England. Having lost his life's work in a shipwreck which he survived, he is taken in by the patriarch of a wealthy, upper class family. In return, he helps his benefactor catalog his eclectic nature collection. The naturalist, a sensitive, intelligent, and kind individual, falls in love with one of his benefactor's daughters, the mysterious Eugenia, played to perfection by the beautiful and talented Patsy Kensit. He is, however, despised and mistreated by her boorish brother, ostensibly because of his low birth. After the marriage, he begins an intense study of an ant colony, with the assistance of a poor relation of his benefactor. This poor relation is an intelligent, articulate, and well educated woman (Kristin Scott Thomas). It is plain to the viewer that she, and not her wealthy and beautiful cousin Eugenia, is the one whom the naturalist should have married. Meanwhile, there is clearly a deep, dark secret within the household. It becomes apparent early on what the secret must be. It is revealed several years into the marriage in a shockingly dramatic fashion, causing the forebearing naturalist to have the veil lifted from his eyes. This in turn acts as the catalyst for the poor relation to reveal her own secret passion. This is a magnificent film that should not be missed by those who love period pieces and award calibre performances.
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Summary: My second most favorite foreign film
Review: This movie is my second most favorite because of its atmospherics, setup, plot development and its just plain entertaining. Without giving too much of the plot away it is a period piece about an impoverished entymologist who marries into a wealthy family. The union is riven by strange going ons and eventually he stumbles onto the family's deep dark secrets. The title reveals a little of the final outcome if you throw the words around let the pieces fall into place.
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Summary: beautifully shot movie
Review: This movie was one of the most beautifully choreographed that I've had the pleasure of watching. Yes, there is a dark secret to the perfect, ripe, Eugenia. For those who want to know what that secret is, I'll give you a clue. The title of this movie is "Angels & Insects" One of these words, if you reshuffle a couple of consonants, will form a word that is the basis of this secret. Let me just say, I was shocked and had absolutely no clue. It was pretty amazing. Buy this movie you'll love just for its photography alone.
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Summary: Solid Story of Nature, Red in Tooth and Claw
Review: This was a fantastic picture! A young naturalist of humble origins, William Adamson, finds a scientific soulmate in the super-aristocrat Reverend Alabaster, and is invited to live with the Alabaster family to help educate the children and to help the Reverend with his naturalist studies. Unaccustomed to the opulent aristocratic lifestyle, William falls in love with the extraordinarily beautiful and glamorous oldest Alabaster daughter, Eugenia. The eldest Alabaster son, Edgar, resents the commoner's hanging on. Can William accomplish any worthwhile scientific work while surrounded by the idle rich? What if he could have Eugenia? Would she welcome William into her upper-crust caste? Is that where William wants to be? An amazing film, extremely well acted, I loved it. A movie you can sink your teeth into. Highly, highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Go for it!
Review: This was fantabulous! I loved the unexpectedness and richness of the story, the often-unusual (for Victorian times) costumes, and the superb acting. What a treat, visually and emotionally! If you liked "The Piano," this film is for you. If psychological mazes do not intrigue you, stay away. And I certainly WAS surprised at the ending -- and this rarely happens to me anymore. All in all, this was an exhilarating two hours. Enjoy!
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Summary: Surprisingly fascinating
Review: Usually I forget movies pretty fast, so the fact that I'm being consistently haunted by this one must mean something. This review is an effort to exorcise it as much as anything else. I saw "Angels and Insects" completely by accident, turning on the TV at 2am to do my nightly exercises and suddenly finding myself hooked. Thinking back, nothing really happens in this film except at the very end: the entire beginning and middle are essentially build-up. Yet far from being boring, this gradual construction of themes is beautifully done with virtuoso acting and dialogue. It is the three main actors in particular who craft this film: In the beginning William and Eugenia hold center stage, and then after awhile the spotlight dims on Eugenia and brightens slowly on Matty. None of the characters conform to the usual Hollywood stereotypes, which is a reason in itself to watch this movie. Even Eugenia, who is ostensibly beautiful, is somewhat flawed in appearance, and the filmmakers had the courage to make Matty downright plain. William is neither macho nor the ideal 90's Sensitive Guy: he's a real person in search of himself, and his marriage to Eugenia is a sign of basic flaws in his character which are rectified as the film progresses. When I switched on the television in time to witness William's initial adulation of Eugenia--saying that "She is so beautiful and--perfect" and later telling her "Command me"--I was certain that this was yet another shallow romance wherein love would blossom by virtue of a man's devotion to a woman's physical beauty. I was pleasantly surprised by this hop-out-of-kin film which analyzes the degree to which character, and not external appearance, actually makes a difference.
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Summary: Whom can I tell that I should not destroy in the telling.
Review: We begin our film with what seems like the beginning of a National Geographic special. We watch as our main character, William Adamson dances wildly with some naked natives of the Amazon. Meanwhile, back in civilization, Adamson is about to meet Eugenia Alabaster. Miss Eugenia is recovering from the divorce of her first husband, and seems quiet and shut off when Adamson first meets her. Adamson goes back to work, but constantly keeps Eugenia in the corner of his eye. Adamson was working for Eugenia's father when he was in the Amazon collecting insects for her father's collection. On the way back to the States, his boat sank and he lost most of the findings from the Amazon, and also most of his belongings. Out of sympathy, the father allows Adamson to stay at their Victorian mansion. Adamson's new job is to catalog all the items that Eugenia's father has in his bug collection. So, Adamson goes to work, but secretly pines for the love of Eugenia. Through a series of insect events, Eugenia (who is not a huge fan of our four to eight legged friends) decides to marry Adamson and they share a wild night of passionate sex. Then, our story goes downhill. Family secrets surface and Adamson realizes he cannot destroy the strong bond between a brother and sister.
*** Possible Spoilers ***
Can I not stress that shocking ending enough!!! I stress that because it was one of those moments when the symbolism didn't seem to match the rest of the film. For about two hours I was slapped in the face with the symbolic similarities between the insects that Adamson is researching and the actual human beings that are in his life. The story was really small and dull; in fact, I didn't care much about the characters at all. The shocking ending just didn't seem to match for the rest of the film. I felt like the director did this for no other reasoning than just to shock the viewers at the end of a dull film. I don't know what I was thinking when I saw this ending coming, I was hoping the director wouldn't take it so far, but he did. I have this deep feeling that he hates the normal Victorian era film as much as I do and wanted to just change it up a bit.
I have read several reviews that have claimed that this film was one of the best of the year, and I can only laugh at these people. Why on Earth would a film about family discourse along with the track pattern of communal ants be the best film of the year? Also, I had trouble with the lead actor who played Adamson in this film. His ability to speak left much to be desired.
Overall, for half of the movie I felt like I was back in my high school biology class doing my insect report, and for the other half I felt like I was touring the fine state of West "By God" Virginia. I would recommend this film for anyone that has a passion for insects as well as for people in their own families. This would be the perfect fit of a film for you!
Grade: * out of *****
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