Ammonite

 2/4

Starring: Kate Winslet, Saoirse Ronan, Gemma Jones, James McArdle, Fiona Shaw, Alec Secareanu

Rated R for Graphic Sexuality, Some Graphic Nudity and Brief Language

The difference between a good performance and a great one is that in a good performance, an actor says their lines the way they are meant to be said.  In a great performance, they use their body language to enhance their line delivery.  Even a twitch of the mouth or the position of the brow can make all the difference.

I make this distinction because this is how well thought out Kate Winslet's portrayal of paleontologist Mary Anning.  Winslet burrows herself deep inside her character.  Winslet the actress is as glamorous and charismatic as she is talented, but Mary is the opposite.  She is brittle, awkward and resolutely asocial.  Human connections are something she does not allow herself.  But there are times when she succumbs to passion and it shakes her carefully ordered solitude.

Mary lives in a small cottage bypassed the sea with her ailing mother (Jones).  She is unearths and studies fossils by trade, but cleans up shells and uses them in art to pay the bills.  One day, Roderick Murchison (McArdle) walks through her door.  He is a budding paleontologist himself and wants to study under her.  But Roderick has ulterior motives: his wife Charlotte (Ronan) is in a period of deep depression after the death of her child, and Roderick is desperate to find something that will shake her out of it.  He has to go away for a couple of weeks on a trip and wants Mary to teach Charlotte about fossils.  Mary doesn't need or want an apprentice, but he's offering big bucks for it and she agrees.  Then something strange happens: she falls in love with her new companion.

Writer/director Francis Lee strenuously avoids any sort of manipulation in telling this story.  There are only a few dozen lines in the film.  Background music is seldom heard, and on the occasions when it is used, it's not noticeable.  The plot is minimal.  Although it doesn't follow all the rules of Lars von Trier's Dogma 95 movement, the effect is very much the same.  "Ammonite" is the kind of movie people think of when they hear the word "arthouse."  It's so "realistic" that we can hear the dresses rustling in a small room and the sea drowning out the dialogue.

There is merit to such a subdued approach, and one can make the argument that it is keeping in line with such an emotionally closed off character.  But it goes too far.  It's so cold, so subtle, and so inactive that it requires the viewer to actively try to remain engaged.  And to be quite frank, the rewards aren't worth it.  In the end, it's impossible to care much about Mary or Charlotte.

Appearing in a movie without strong dialogue or plot to fall back on is a great risk to actors.  Fortunately Lee got Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan, two of the best actresses not named Meryl Streep that are currently working in film, to star.  They do what they can, but it's an uphill battle.  Their acting is perfectly admirable, and on occasion generates interest.  Sadly most of the film relies on their body language and facial expressions.  A little of this goes a long way and there's only so much that can be communicated through it.  The one scene that really works is, well what do you know, the one with the most dialogue.

Mention must be made of the sexual content in this film.  It's extremely explicit and required great commitment by the actresses (neither of whom is a lesbian in real life).  Sex and nudity aren't new territory for Winslet, who is one of the least inhibited actresses, but not for Ronan.  It's impossible to label them as pornographic considering how much they reveal about the characters, but it looks real.  I have to wonder what convinced the notoriously prudish MPAA to award this an R rating.  Compared to this, "Lust, Caution" (which got an NC-17) is the epitome of modesty.

On some level, I can admire the craft of "Ammonite" and what Lee was trying to do.  I just couldn't care.