Firelight

Firelight_360P

When I first saw a preview of this film, I imagined "oh, just another remake of Jane Eyre". But, because of my liking for Sophie Marceau and my love of "Jane Eyre", I rented it...and I loved it. This film takes a unique perspective, concentrating more upon the relationship between mother and daughter, rather than the romance between mother and father. Though the story is an oft-told one, this is a film whose magic will grasp you, just as the mentioned firelight within. Sophie Marceau gives a wonderful performance as Elisabeth, combining her lovely face with the warmth of any mother towards her child. Stephen Dillane is also very good, but I was entirely *riveted* by Dominique Belcourt as little Louisa. Her performance had no artifice---she had no problem acting like the little brat, then slowly beginning to soften as she discovered what a life could be without hating everyone other than her father. The costumes were as good as any other recent period film and the sets were *gorgeous*, especially the famous "lake house". Therefore, despite a plot everyone knows, "Firelight" utterly charmed me and held me spellbound even after its conclusion.

I am always willing to live with a little bit of cheese in a romance flick, but this movie was over the top. Sophie Marceau was great considering what she had to work with, other actors were decent to good. One reason people go to the theater to see movies is the "shared experience" -- today was a great example. The laughter kept building as the end neared, climaxing with the sister's line to S. Marceau at the funeral "love him for both of us" (as an aside, this after the writers expect us to believe that the sister suspected nothing after months and months of sex between the 2 main characters. They must have built the walls thick back then!). Hey I didn't mind seeing a little T&A from S. Marceau though: those looks coupled with great acting skill make for a great movie...usually. Well maybe next time.

Just by chance, I selected this film at a time of night when I'm ready for sleep. I watched it once.... then, again but fell asleep thru part of it. Two days later, I watched it again (wide awake this time) and that's when I fell in love with it. The first time.... I admit, it was the titillating story... the child was secondary. The second time.... I wanted to watch Sophie Marceau's delivery of her character. The third time.... I realized that Stephen Dillane's delivery of his character was so nuanced, I missed it the first 2 times. He is what makes this story so wonderful. Because I am a big fan of British film, I wondered why I was not familiar with Stephen Dillane's name. After some research, I found that I have seen him in some character roles, but nowhere is he as handsome as in this film. Sophie Marceau is so accomplished that together, some of their scenes unfold as a dance. This film is so delicate, with exquisite timing and phrases, that I can truly say it is as well-done as Campion's The Piano. Elisabeth's shout when she opens the doors to the lake. Godwin's face from recognition to omigod to sweet smile when he sees Elisabeth again. Godwin's explanation that a month with Elisabeth in the house would be an eternity. Their dance at the door when Louisa is screaming to be let out. And many more. If you love stories of heart-felt deep love, this is it. Just be sure to watch it closely and more than once.

Call me a little old-fashioned but I found the plot of `Firelight' a little disturbing....*LARGE SPOILER* Charles Godwin engages a woman to have sex with her for cash and thereby father a child because apparently he requires an heir, something his comatose wife is physically incapable of. Some years later, Sophie Marceau's Elisabeth tracks down her child who she's consigned to a man seemingly bereft of morals. In a fit of pique, she admonishes the young girl to `develop her mind' so as to have a chance in a world dominated by men where women are viewed as mere chattels. Prophetic words, but the daftness of the plot continues when Ms. Marceau's Elisabeth falls for the very same man who views her as little more than chattel and who, having brought his estate to ruin, finds a convenient way to have his cake, and the healthy Elisabeth, too. You guessed it - bump off the sick wife. If passion truly has no limits, then what kind of love is it where murder is justified by unrequited passion? Such love isn't true love at all because it is, in essence, selfish. Wrap this movie up in as much sugar as you like - this film boils down to a nasty little attempt to validate euthanasia.

...if you're going to make none of the characters act in-period? That question aside, here's another: Why not spend some time making a plot by hand instead of invoking the Plot-o-Matic 3000? Is there nobody capable of writing a script in Hollywood anymore? And another: what is the point of hiring all these wonderful, top-notch actors if you force them into a setting so dreary that there's no life in them? And yet another: how are we to believe that the two lead characters love each other when a typical wet match has more of a spark than they have between them? God! I *really* wanted to like this movie going into it. I love Sophie Marceau. I love the style of drama the movie was trying to emulate. But I really hate turgid, predictable plots with themes that hammer you over the head repeatedly until your skull splits open and your brain drains out of the brain pan (which, to be fair, at least gives you the means necessary to enjoy the movie: brainlessness).

A wonderful photographed movie with a convincingly playing Sophie Marceau. Absolutely recommendable for fans of historical romances.

Schlock. That one word best describes this movie, which is without question one of the worst that I have ever seen. Words like banal, trite and cliche do not even begin to do it justice. Every line of dialogue was poorly written and even more poorly executed, and every shot was bleak, depressing and unartistic. The movie was completely and totally predictable from the get-go, and offered no surprises and zero entertainment. There is ABSOLUTELY NO EXCUSE for watching this movie. Plot devices were inserted often to try and save a failing script, but to no avail. I wish someone had held the original manuscript over a Firelight before ever taking it to a producer.

This is a wonderful movie about how a woman's love can overcome major obstacles. Sophie Marceau is a beautiful governess, who seven years prior was hired by a rich Englishman to conceive a baby because the man's own wife had been seriously injured but did not die after a riding accident. Marceau's motivation is to pay her father's debts and get him out of prison. Thus the two principal characters are having this weekend "affair" out of a sense of duty to others. Unlike many movies set in the mid-19th century, the rich people in this movie are not one dimensional and heartless, and the poor people are not powerless victims. Marceau manages to track down her child after 6 years and becomes her governess. The girl has become a spoiled brat, and Marceau is the first to teach the girl how to read, and much about life. There is not exactly a happy ending, in the Hollywood sense. In order to get something, one must take risks and be willing to give up other things.

The artistry of this movie is not evident the first time you watch it because you notice nothing but the actors' brown eyes and the blue cold rooms of the mansion. But watch it a few more times and you realize how balanced the story is, how themes of birth and death parallel heat and cold, love and hate. The script is simple because silence and secrecy drive the plot. Compared to Jane Eyre, it is rather sparse, but so what? I gave it a 10.