ON CHESIL BEACH (15)
SKILLFULLY adapted by Ian McEwan from his Booker Prize-nominated novella, On Chesil Beach is a heartbreaking portrait of doomed love that generates one sobering emotional crescendo after another, like waves crashing against a forlorn shore.
Gifted violinist Florence Ponting (Saoirse Ronan) and history graduate Edward Mayhew (Billy Howle) prepare to spend their first night together as husband and wife in a hotel located close to Chesil Beach.
As afternoon bleeds into evening, a mosaic of flashbacks illuminates the couple’s radically different backgrounds. While the bride is at the mercy of strict moral codes of the era, upheld by her mother Violet (Emily Watson) and father Geoffrey (Samuel West), the groom draws on his relationship with his “brain-damaged” mother Marjorie (Anne-Marie Duff) to embrace his passions.
Tension in the room builds to the moment Florence and Edward must consummate their marriage.
On Chesil Beach is an artfully composed character study of youthful naivete.
Ronan and Howle are an attractive pairing and Watson, Duff and West provide sterling support in small yet pivotal roles.
“I am... most terribly sorry...” whispers Florence as she fumbles for the right words – no, any words – to soothe her spouse.
Director Dominic Cooke’s film elegantly reveals the chinks of pain and regret in each stuttering syllable.