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Bookmark this pageFirelight (1997)
Director: William Nicholson
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
To defend her debt-hounded father, Swiss governess Elisabeth (Marceau) accepts a financial proposition from an anonymous English aristocrat. She spends three nights with him in a quiet Normandy hotel and delivers a child nine months later. Seven years later fate brings them together again. Charles (Dillane) has since moved to Sussex with 'their' daughter Louisa (Belcourt), a rebellious girl who has seen off a string of governesses. Elisabeth, the latest incumbent, enters a strange household where Charles' wife remains a bedridden invalid, and Louisa spends hours of lonely reverie in a water-surrounded outhouse. First time director William (Shadowlands) Nicholson fails to disguise the air of contrivance hanging over this 19th century saga of thwarted maternal love. While young Belcourt makes an effectively moody contribution, the two central performances are less well-balanced. Dillane is as remote as he was in Welcome to Sarajevo; and Marceau, while showing characteristic determination, is never an actress to win much emotional empathy from the audience. Christopher Gunning's music over-compensates for their reticence and nearly drowns the lot in genteel syrup.Author: TJ
User reviews of this film
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- jmorrison said...
- Posted on Mar 06 2008 15:01 This film is a guilty secret. Although seriously dodgy in subject matter (man hires woman as baby machine) it won me over by the sheer magnetism of Stephen Dillane and Sophie Marceau. I could believe they were in love and was completely swept away. The child is a complete brat and all the better for it - check the scene where Sophie throws ink over her and then over herself - one of the wierdest scenes ever! Stephen gets his kit off and looks great. Filmed as though it's Siberia, you'll love this is you liked Dr. Zhivago and Onegin and snow is you thing!
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Cast & crew
Director: William Nicholson
Producer: Brian Eastman
Cast: Sophie Marceau, Stephen Dillane, Kevin Anderson, Lia Williams, Dominique Belcourt, Joss Ackland, Emma Amos, Wolf Kahler, Annabel Giles full cast
Genre(s): Period/Swashbucklers
Duration: 103 mins
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