lavatch "On Chesil Beach" is primarily set in the year 1962. But by all indications, the action should really be taking place in 1862 at the height of the morally repressive era in Victorian England. In the guise of being a romance, the film develops the story of a young British couple, Florence Ponting and Edward Mayhew, who fall in love, but their relationship falls apart with a disastrous wedding night that culminates in a long conversation in the idyllic, pebbly setting of Chesil Beach. Again, the story sounds like that of a frustrated married couple out of a Henrik Ibsen play like "A Doll's House."In the bonus track of the DVD, there was a lengthy segment where the writer, director, producer, and actors attempted to offer a rationale for this strange film. Here is a digest of their remarks:(1) The leading actress described the film as being "about two lovers." That statement is difficult to understand, based on a relationship that was never consummated.(2) The screenwriter described the theme of the young couple "crossing the line" from "innocence" to "experience." With vague generalities, the writer was avoiding the main subject matter of the film: the frigidity of Florence Ponting.(3) The screenwriter made another unsubstantiated claim that the conflict between Flo and Edward was based on "emotional understanding running ahead of physical understanding." But if that were the case, it was difficult to believe that their "problem" was not identified much earlier in the lengthy period of courtship, as opposed to the single, shocking revelation on their wedding night. (4) The film was described as "a love story" and "a tragedy." But the break-up of the couple due to a case of frigidity was hardly the subject matter of a love story. The cringeworthy subject matter was closer to pathos than tragedy. One of the film's producers made the jaw-dropping observation that "many people will identify with the relationship of Edward and Florence." Without any support for her contention, the producer then went on to assert that the film is "universal" in its implications! (5) The filmmakers boasted of how the film reveals the "internal life" of the characters. But in the crucial scene where Florence meets with her local vicar, all we see is that she is bottled up emotionally. We never learn much of Flo's internal life until the climactic conversation on Chisel Beach. There might have been more empathy for Flo's character if she had opened up to the vicar with the truth.Contrary to the objective of the film artists, "On Chesil Beach" was not about "internal life," but about the suppression of that life.SPOILER ALERT: At the close of the film, we fast forward from 1962 to 1975 and finally to 2007. During this sequence, it is revealed that Flo married and had children with Charles Morrell, the male member of her string ensemble. But it is never explained how that relationship was successfully consummated or how Flo had changed over time from her disastrous experience with Edward. There is an inherent dishonesty in a film that makes a bold claim for universality, yet refuses to explain character development and how people change over time. Specifically, what happened to Flo between the wedding night at Chesil when she described her bedroom experience with Edward as "revolting" and the time when she evidently discovered conjugal bliss with Charles Morrell? Most assuredly, Edward Mayhew has to be wondering what happened behind closed doors between Florence Ponting and Charles Morrell that was different from his experience with Flo at the Chesil Beach hotel.

phd_travel Don't dismiss this movie as 2 virgins and an awkward wedding night which is actually quite funny. It's about rushing to life altering mistakes. The 2 characters both make bad choices and are both to blame he for not being patient and she for not trying harder to be fulfil the physical side of her love. No one is totally to blame. Saoirse Ronan is the only actress who could have pulled this role off sympathetically. Billy Howle is quite good as a hurt Husband.

lasttimeisaw 10 years after ATONEMENT, Saoirse Roman reunites with author Ian McEwan in ON CHESIL BEACH, adapted by McEwan himself from his novella onto the silver screen, it is theater-hand Dominic Cooke's directorial debut feature.The film begins in 1962, in medias res, two just-married honeymooners Edward Mayhew (Howle) and Florence Ponting (Roman) swan along the titular beach, heading to the hotel while waxing lyrical about music, they are supposed to enjoy a romantic dinner and consummate their wedding night, only, the ensuing clumsily conducted whoopee-making turns out disastrously for these two first-timers, and their 6-hour marriage will come to a precipitous halt on the same beach. Woven felicitously into the diegesis are discrete flashbacks representing the pair's past, their familial backstory, the evolution of their romance, and their genuine communion up to the point, often cued by one specific emotion or reminiscences and chaperoned by lilting Bach-heavy classical pieces, which are definitely bespoke of the film's fluent if inauspicious mood all for one's ears' pleasure. At first glance, Edward and Florence is a brace of natural match, although he is hailed from a less affluent background, saddled with a brain-damaged mother Marjorie (Duff, persuasively rotates between two disparate frequencies with utter aplomb), whereas she is endowed with a bourgeois upbringing, leading a quintet as the first violinist, their love story blossoms with sufficient fondness and alacrity which elicits a consensus that they do love each other, it is not a "she's not that into you" scenario. So the sticking point eventually is leveled at Florence's ostensible frigidity (although a potential skeleton in the closet is implicitly hinted with a young Florence sniveling under the looming shadow of her father, which signifies it may be more traumatic than congenital), aggravated by a deficiency of sex education on both parties, statistically speaking, everyone's first sex experience is, more often than not, a disappointment, but what adds insult to injury is Florence's shocking reaction and a hearty but inopportune suggestion that provokes an embarrassed Edward to rage-quit, whose immaturity even overshadows his oceanic maladroitness, in hindsight, it is beggar-belief that true love could be thwarted by such a commonplace incident, but as always, it is no use crying over split milk, for a spur-of-the-moment decision, Edward is punished on the pain of ruing the day for the rest of his life, especially when decades later he gets the tidings and fulfills his promise to see the quintet's homecoming performance, what a price to pay and what hits home is the sharp contrast between a man's idée-fixe and a woman's malleability, which points up McEwan's incisiveness. The two leads, being a bigger name and a thrice Oscar-nominee, Ronan continues her amazing career transition of seeking out more complex roles offered to actresses in our equality-demanding era, and her Florence boldly melds a girl-next-door affinity with a modicum of resolution and domination that defies easy categorization. However, for this reviewer's money, a tenderfoot Billy Howle outdoes Ronan here, completely sloughs off his loosey-goosey appearance (which looks rather old for his character prima facie), and sets in motion Edward's multiplex make-up with conviction, sympathy and finesse (including one of the most awkward sex scenes in recent cinema-scape) and elicits a delectable charm that reverberates hither and thither, absolutely a star-making performance that beckons more meaty roles.A pleasurable period drama that analyzes an edifying mishap with moderation and deliberation, ON CHESIL BEACH might not possess ATONEMENT's epic grandeur or stellar opulence, but in its cottage-industry approach, effectually carries off its wisdom and discretion.

merelyaninnuendo On Chesil Beach2 And A Half Out Of 5On Chesil Beach is a character driven dramatic feature about the prude ideology and the repercussion that it breeds on a newly wed couple. Despite the effort of projecting the cringe-worthy moments with conviction and accuracy, the distraction or the cover-up could have been a lot subtle for it to be inedible. Having said that, the agenda of the feature communicates through crystal clear medium which is the performance in here; kudos to the star cast. The primary reason that disenchants the viewers from the fragile bubble is often its non-sequitur background score which is more of a downer considering the music is an essential part of it (the violin played by Ronan is mesmerizing though). It is rich on technical aspects like its metaphorical cinematography, alluring costume design and stunning camera work that is pleasing to encounter. The writing is strong on terms of the awareness of each character's perspective which latter helps it create an appropriate arc to it. The adapted screenplay by Ian McEwan steals the show, since the editing is perfect and to-the-point that holds the audience on the edge of the seat throughout the course of it. Dominic Cooke; the director, has done a decent work but also seems a bit amateur on executing it since the different days that it was shot can easily be filtered. Cooke is also invested a lot on drawing out the emotions from the screen that works in its favor but also makes it a bit chalky around the edges. As mentioned earlier, the lead cast; Ronan and Howle, are excellent and holds on to their role tight and bright. Stunning visuals, stellar performances and three-dimensional characters are the high points of the feature. On Chesil Beach is basically a poignant take on a fragile concept that is effective and moving on every aspect of it but is surely isn't glorifying no matter what the makers might suggest.