Turner, where Ruskin, a champion of J.M.W Turner's paintings, is largely used for comic relief and mocked for his ponderous speechifying). John, however, never grows beyond caricature (though it's a much different caricature than that found in Mike Leigh's Mr. The film's most moving moments are largely silent, punctuated by John's disregard and Effie's growing apathy. But eventually, John's neglect combined with her perceived duty to their marriage leads her to illness and resignation.įanning's physical transformation in that process-her posture crumples, her eyes become downcast, her visage pale and drained of emotion-is remarkable, not least because she and director Richard Laxton let it stand front and center.
Ignored by her husband and disdained by his family, Effie attempts to assert her independence anyway, particularly on a trip to Venice where John locks himself up to work on a book while Effie goes out on the town. When Effie undresses in front of him, he runs off and refuses to consider sex then or at any point later in the movie. John's mother (Julie Walters) pampers John and blocks Effie's most basic attempts to take care of him. John's repression, hinted at by his behavior on the train, becomes confirmed once he and Effie arrive at Denmark Hill, where John lives with his overbearing parents. That, hopefully, will ward off any articles titled "What Effie Gray gets wrong about being married to an emotionally stifled art critic in the 19th century." Whatever importance the film attaches to respecting the historical record is dispensed with by the credits, which state that Emma Thompson wrote the original screenplay. Effie Gray is based on a true story, but refreshingly it never says so.
One thing to get out of the way first: Ruskin was a real-life art critic, Effie his real-life wife, and John Everett Millais (Tom Sturridge), the painter with whom Effie later falls in love, a real-life artist. As the two are traveling by train from Effie's Scottish hometown to John's home in London, Effie remarks that "this is the first time we've ever been entirely alone." The 19th-century England setting precludes a quick cabin consummation, but the fear that enters John's eyes at the mention of intimacy is unmistakable and, even accounting for Victorian morality, worrisome.
Effie Gray opens after the wedding of its eponymous protagonist (Dakota Fanning) and John Ruskin (Greg Wise) but its not long before you sense that their marriage is headed for trouble.
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