- Film Review
- Reviewed By Sloan Freer
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4 out of 5
Despite being director Stephen Daldry's follow-up to Billy Elliot, much of the initial interest in this drama has focused on Nicole Kidman's prosthetic nose - as renowned English writer Virginia Woolf, she is virtually unrecognisable. The physical transformation she has undertaken for the role is somewhat distracting at the beginning, but as David Hare's magnificent screenplay unfolds, it is the drama's beauty and eloquence that take centre stage. Adapted from Michael Cunningham's complex novel, this poignant exploration of longing, desire and regret interweaves the lives of three women from different eras. Kidman's neurosis-driven Woolf is the most developed and compelling character, but co-stars Julianne Moore and Meryl Streep are also interesting, as a stifled 1950s housewife and a present-day lesbian book editor, respectively. Had Moore and Streep's scenarios been made weightier and less clichéd, the feature would have been a masterpiece. As it stands, it's a sophisticated and deeply poetic triumph that marks out Daldry as a talent to watch.
Plot Summary
Oscar-winning drama, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Michael Cunningham, starring Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore and Meryl Streep, that traces the life experiences of three women in three different eras. In 1920s England, neurosis-driven writer Virginia Woolf is trying to write her masterpiece, Mrs Dalloway; in the 50s, housewife Laura Brown is suffocating in an unfulfilling marriage; and present-day lesbian book editor Clarissa Vaughan is selflessly neglecting her own needs to nurse a dying friend.
Cast and crew
Cast
- Clarissa Vaughan
- Meryl Streep
- Laura Brown
- Julianne Moore
- Virginia Woolf
- Nicole Kidman
- Richard Brown
- Ed Harris
- Kitty
- Toni Collette
- Julia Vaughan
- Claire Danes
- Louis Waters
- Jeff Daniels
- Leonard Woolf
- Stephen Dillane
- Sally Lester
- Allison Janney
- Dan Brown
- John C Reilly
- Vanessa Bell
- Miranda Richardson
- Barbara in the flower shop
- Eileen Atkins
- Mrs Latch
- Margo Martindale
- Nelly Boxall
- Linda Bassett
- Richie Brown
- Jack Rovello
Crew
- Director
- Stephen Daldry
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