ScreenFish

where faith and film are intertwined

Saoirse Ronan

Ammonite: Reigniting the Spark of the Soul

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Set in the 1840s, acclaimed palaeontologist Mary Anning (Kate Winslet) continues her daily search for fossils along the harsh coastline of Lyme Regis. Although she has made significant contributions to the scientific community, she is now largely ignored by the male-dominated historical society and spends her days looking for common fossils to sell to rich tourists. When wealthy visitor Roderick Murchison asks Mary to care for his young wife, Charlotte (Saoirse Ronan) in his absence, she begrudgingly accepts due to her financial needs. However, as Mary and Charlotte spend more time together, their mutual support for one another starts to bring their hearts back to life. As their friendship turns into a passionate love affair, the two women?s lives are irrevocably changed.

Written and directed by Francis Lee (God?s Own Country),?Ammonite?is a slow burn of smoldering sensuality. Based on the life of Mary Anning but not on true events, the film is an interesting look at a historical context without feeling forced to recreate actual events. As a result, Lee?s film is an intriguing mix of fact and fiction as he manages to tell a story that seems to flesh out the experiences of women during the 19th?century yet also maintains his creative license to explore the modern female voice as well.

While period pieces can become tropes unto themselves, the performances in Ammonite help to elevate the film above other more recent examples. Both Ronan and Winslet have genuine chemistry onscreen and each unspoken glance offers more passion than any flurry of poetic words. Both women are excellent together onscreen yet it?s Winslet that is absolutely remarkable as the emotionally stilted Mary. Anchoring the film with her performance, Winslet says few words yet communicates much. Like the fossils that she uncovers, Mary too is frozen in time and requires gentle care to free her soul from her hardened emotional shell. As such, Winslet brings a complicated subtly to the role that reveals both an inner strength and underlying fear.

While the film?s sweeping romance remains the focal point of the narrative, the empowering of women in the midst of a toxically masculine society is telling. Having both been taken advantage by men in different ways, Mary and Charlotte have both been silenced by their culture. Though the effects of Charlotte?s abusive relationship are much more visible, Mary too has been neglected by the male-dominated historical society that features her work. As such, both women have lost their voices at the hands of others. As they begin to carry one another?s burdens, sparks of life begins to resurface within them and their spirits lighten.

photograph by Agatha A. Nitecka/R?N studio

While?Ammonite?uses this spiritual resurgence to emphasize their sweeping romance, the joy that stems from feeling heard and seen by another is far more important. By?highlighting the healing power of relationships, the film serves as a reminder of the value of each human soul and how easily they can be trampled on by the ignorant and selfish. Then, when their sexual journey finally comes together, their affair stems not merely from some base, animal attraction but from the fact that both women have empowered one another in ways that have restored their souls. In this way,?Ammonite?recognizes that genuine intimacy and mutual support is far more life-giving than raw physical attraction and celebrates the spiritual spark that such relationships bring.

While the film may not be for everyone, there is something poignant about Ammonite that stays with the viewer after the film is complete. As Mary and Charlotte?s relationship blossoms, their love carries an intimate beauty that is often missing from today?s romance films. Like each fossil that the women, Lee shows the viewer that the heart can be restored once again, even when it has been embedded in the muck and mire.

Ammonite is in select theatres now and will be available on VOD in early December. 

4.11 Paying Attention to LADY BIRD

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Is there a difference between ‘love’ and ‘attention’? Can you ever truly break free from your family upbringing? These issues and more lie at the heart of Great Gerwig’s directorial debut,?Lady Bird.?Having held the record (briefly) for highest rated film in history on Rotten Tomatoes, this film is connecting audiences in a big way.?This week, Steve welcomes back Paul and Julie Levac to talk coming of age in the 21st Century and the help (and damage) inherent to family relationships.

Want to continue to conversation at home? ?Click the link below to download ?Fishing for More? ? some small group questions for you to bring to those in your area.

4.11 LadyBird

Thanks Paul and Julie for joining us!

For those of you in Canada who are interested, you can donate to ScreenFish by clicking the link below and simply selecting ‘ScreenFish’ from the ‘Apply Your Donation…’ area.?

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/connect-city/

Freeing Lady Bird – 1on1 with Lois Smith

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Written and directed by Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird is a coming-of-age drama that tells the story of Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson (Saoirse Ronan), a young woman growing up in Sacramento in 2002. Living with her parents and adopted brother, she has an increasingly strained relationship with her mother, Marion (Laurie Metcalf), as she prepares to graduate high school and move on with her life.

In Lady Bird, Smith plays Sister Sarah Joan, a nun in the Catholic school where Lady Bird attends. When asked what attracted her to the role, Smith says she sensed a deep love for others in her character.

?Well, I think she is such a lovely grown up,? she begins. ?She?s compassionate, a wonderful teacher and she has humour. The scenes are beautifully written so the clarity of them is present. It was just a pleasure.?

With the film garnering increasing awards consideration, Smith believes that people are responding so positively because of the authenticity of the script.

?It?s the real thing,? she states. ?That?s what I think. It?s the writing, the people, the characters and relationships, the story ? they?re all genuine and exciting and real and I think people respond to that.?

According to Smith, one of the most appealing aspects of working on Lady Bird was working with director, Greta Gerwig. Although it was Gerwig?s first time in the director?s chair, Smith feels that she brings a clarity and confidence to her storytelling that help bring the film to life.

?I already knew that she was a fascinating and wonderful actress and had some exposure to her writing,? she acknowledges. ?I think that what she brings is an amazing wisdom and a great skill. Her skill as an actress, I?m dazzled by. As a director? I felt she make clear, honest moves all the time… What I see in her is a capable and a true mind. It?s really quite a beautiful palette.?

In addition, Smith also had the opportunity to work closely with an incredible cast of young stars such as Saoirse Ronan, Lucas Hedges and Timothee Chalamet. When asked what she believes today?s youth need to help them feel loved and supported, Smith confesses that because the world is changing so rapidly, it?s becoming increasingly difficult to know how to help them.

?When you speak about the character I play, that seems like such a wonderful model of the kind of care and ability to reach? young people,? she reflects. ?It was a wonderful cast of young people and it was a pleasure to be with them. It?s hard to say? I guess I feel like young people have a lot to contend with, beyond what I did growing up. So, it?s hard to feel wise about what do they need.?

Given the strained relationship between Lady Bird and her mother, one of Sister Sarah?s more poignant observations within the film draws a line connecting love and simple attention together. Says Smith, the line between the two concepts creates some fascinating dialogue about how we can offer genuine support to one another.

?It?s so provocative. I imagine that it?s a quote from somewhere or at least an allusion?,? she muses. ?What I find is that, once that connection is drawn, it?s almost like a knot has been tied between love and attention. What?s love without attention? What?s attention without love? Do they create each other or support each other? It?s so wonderful to think about once it?s been spoken.?

An acting veteran, Smith?s career has provided her with opportunities in a wide variety of artistic mediums, ranging from television to film to live theatre. When asked if she has a personal preference, she recognizes that, although every medium offers unique challenges and experiences, some of her favourite experiences have come through live theatre.

?If I did have to declare a favourite, I?d probably have to say the theatre because that?s where I started and that?s where I continue to work regularly,? she affirms. ?I?ve been very fortunate in having wonderful plays and roles to do, even though the common place wisdom is that, as you get older, your parts will become fewer and less good but that has not been my experience in recent years. It?s a different way of putting it together. In the theatre, you come together in rehearsal and build something together. That?s a different use of time and it fits different techniques, though basically the bottom seeds of acting are the same.?

?Time is such an ingredient in everything and I?m so aware of it in theatre. It?s a very different way of putting something together. Both are fascinating and both offer different and interesting challenges. Intimacy with which the audience sees the actors in a movie is something very special. On the other hand, the immediacy of presence together in the theatre, that?s very special too. They?re not the same.?

 

Lady Bird is in theatres now.