begob Hard up scientist marries into wealth, but eventually must seek freedom.Basically a romantic Victorian costume drama with intellectual trappings. The themes are breeding, heredity, environment, with a bit of political theory, but above all honesty and deception. These don't cohere completely, but the mix is interesting.The film feels very awkward at the start. First up, the lighting is so plain, like a TV drama from the '70s - it really sucked the atmosphere out of the location. Then the dialogue was stilted, and it took a long while to warm to the lead actor's restrained delivery.But it's a very good cast, especially the actress playing Mattie, who as ever conveys so much with her beautiful, intelligent face. Her character is the key to the story and, after all the intellectualising, it's really about freedom of choice without any true insight on the family.They played around with costume, but dressing one character as a bee was a bit much! And in the background the hallmark of an intellectual English film - the constant buzzing of a little chamber orchestra as it saws away mournfully at its cellos.The pace does pick up, and the pay off is satisfying, so overall decent entertainment.

filmalamosa This is one of the most visually repulsive movies I have ever watched.I enjoyed reading the other reviews for this film….I got a good laugh from the person who described the women's dresses as being like a visual jackhammer. The dresses are supposed to reflect insects the field of study of the main character.The first thing I personally noticed aside from the bumble bee and other jack hammer dresses was that the lighting was too bright indoors. It looked like flood lights were everywhere when in fact a night scene in that era would have been candle lit. Thus my first disappointment=something looks cheap or wrong here…was this filmed with some unknown color film? Second there is the revolting albino poor white trash looking group of aristocrats living in an authoritarian like atmosphere (the Alabaster family...whitest whites alabaster get it?? ) with servants cringing towards walls etc… It could have easily turned into a horror movie.And finally last there is the predictable totally unbelievable modern feminist twist to the story—-the unbelievably talented in every sense of unbelievable "right on" strong woman who rescues the milquetoast male lead---something guaranteed to win it Oscar nominations. What can I say....ho hum...it would get a lot of claps on Oprah. It is something you can't seem to escape from any more

lastliberal A fascinating film about people acting like insects. The costuming is beyond brilliant, but it is the actions of the people that really are striking in this film.The matriarch of the family is definitely a Queen ant or bee. She constantly gorges herself as the others flutter about serving her.But it is Eugenia (Patsy Kensit) who is the focus of the film. A poor naturalist (Mark Rylance) is madly in love with her, but her racist brother (Douglas Henshall) warns him that he is not of the right class and should be real. William (Rylance) flits ever so cautiously towards Eugenia's web and is ensnared. I am sure there is something beneath the surface here; maybe the same something that caused Eugenia's former fiancée to kill himself.But, it is not always the beautiful butterfly that attracts. Sometimes, it is a plain little ant like Matty Crompton (Kristin Scott Thomas), who is busily working on her own plans for William.This all takes place shortly after Darwin's Origin of the Species was published, and during the Civil War in America. Both colored the story.Upon the death of Mother, Eugenia ascends the role of Queen ant, continuing to produce heirs. At the same time, a collaboration of William and Matty results in a book being published.Then the shocking secret comes forth.Mark Rylance, Patsy Kensit, and Kristin Scott Thomas were all fantastic in this shocking tale.

vorpal_man Tepid. What a waste of a good title. The production has more in common with television than film. Instead of exploring in a challenging and sensual way the themes implied by the title, the movie timidly rehashes conversations we've all had about metamorphosis. Chalk one up for the marketers, who created warm and enticing packaging for a film that is emotionally distant at best. I don't think the fault lies with the material - in terms of pure plot, the story itself is quite satisfying. But the filmmakers are so incompetent that you feel like you're in high school English class listening to someone mumble through a Shakespeare recitation. Presentation is everything, but they give nearly nothing. Feels like the whole thing was shot by the second unit. The costumes are beautiful. Kristin Scott Thomas (a major reason I rented this) is underused, though as effective as they allowed her to be.