Michael Ledo This production is a slow moving drama centering on the life of Chris Guthrie (Agyness Deyn) from her teen school years through adulthood and marriage. It is the turn of the century in Scotland with war looming with Germany.Chris is an exceptional intelligent person whose life would appear to be wasted by modern standards. However, she doesn't realize this as life forces her to endure leaving little time for huge dreams...like going to Canada. The film is in the realm of art house which accounts for all the acclaim. No one can bad mouth an arty film without looking oafish. This one incorporates metaphoric language in narration, "dark quiet corpse (books) that was her childhood was fulfilled in the tissue paper and laid away forever."Chris discovers that as life passes, nothing endues but the land. I thought it was better said (and you can dance to it) by the grand philosopher Stevie Wonder, "Living Just Enough for the City" but then again I am a bit oafish.If bitter-sweet art house historical tales your cup of tea...this is it.Guide: sex and FF nudity (Agyness Deyn)

kbraden-15994 The movie makers decided to take Lewis Grassic Gibbon's novel about Chrissie and the impact of WW1 on the whole community and turn it into a story about one couple. The novel already creates an insular, boxed in feeling of one community following old Scots' ways and takes just one corner of the box. It makes the story claustrophobic. We lose the impact of loving all the ancillary characters like Chae and Long Rob, so their fates don't become important to us- it is just an after thought comment in the film. And the beautiful concluding speech by the pastor under the ancient stones is not in the film, so the whole idea of WHOSE Sunset Song it is does not strike us. The film is beautiful and lead actors good, but the poor decisions on how to frame the story line made it ultimately a disappointment if like me, you love this novel. The old Masterpiece Theatre version was superior.

languidMandala I suspect this movie will review better the further away from its location you go. If you live close by you'll despise it, if you live in Scotland you'll hate it. It probably gets better as you go further away. The problem is that it's just not Scottish in any sense at all. This is especially true in the wedding scene which is so dull and depressing it's almost offensive to the people of the area. The whole movie lacks any kind of energy or dynamics. Yes, strictly speaking the accents are all completely wrong because everyone seems to be from the west coast but that's not such a big deal for me. I thought Agyness Deyn's on- screen accent was OK but they obviously recorded the voice-over later because she is truly horrendous at that - think Dick Van Dyke and cockney. She utterly fails with the classic shibboleth "loch". In general Deyn's lack of training and experience undoes her here - she looks like she's acting. That combined with the overwhelming lethargy undermines the performances of the rest of the cast which are well delivered. Peter Mullan as usual shines with authenticity. So go and see it if you are in California and want a gentle breeze of early 20th century rural life in Europe. If you are in Scotland don't go without your headphones and blindfold - a nice two hour sleep in a comfy seat will be better than watching this dreary annihilation of a much loved book.

hugh_jaeger Who were the "North Highland Regiment"? No "ladies from hell" that I've ever heard of. And why the Latin shoulder numerals "IXI"? That's not even a real or feasible Latin number.Is my sight failing, or did the soldiers' shoulder insignia say "Brecknock"? Wasn't that a battalion of the South Wales Borderers, as in "wrong Celtic country"? Did someone just find a bundle of WW1 shoulder badges on a market stall and decide to use them, without bothering to Google what regiment or even what country they were from?Laura Hollins (let's use your real name, not your gibberish fantasy one) gives birth to a baby several months old. Next thing we know, the boy is a few years old but Laura looks exactly the same age. Other reviewers have already noted other discontinuities with which this film is riddled.The slow, linear narrative is likable enough. Whether Hollins' Doric is credible is for Scots to judge. But botching basic details breaks the spell. I don't feel cheated of my ticket money. Just disappointed that such basic authenticity was botched by lazy and ignorant prop-buying and film-making.