I had never heard either of Virginia Wolf nor of Mrs Dalloway but my mum received a free DVD of this film with her daily newspaper ( a very common practice in the UK apparently ) so she gave me this on a recent visit to England and I thought "Why not" as I have always enjoyed Vanessa Redgrave in the films I have seen of her. I think that to appreciate fully this sort of film you need to be English or have lived many years in England. Much attention is given to recreating the period, the accents, the costumes and decors of the 1920's in that country and the result is truly remarkable. I can understand Americans and other foreigners not appreciating this as it is very far removed from their lifestyle. Also, the plot is rather tame ( I would have preferred more sex and passion ) but presumably the novel in question did not include this. I was also confused by the introduction of a "sub plot" whereby a WW1 soldier with shell shock married to an Italian wife commits suicide and couldn't understand the relation between this and Mrs Dalloway. In spite of these misgivings I actually felt pleasure watching the film. The actress who portrayed Clarissa Dalloway young, Natacha something-or-other, had subliminal beauty which reminded me of the great actresses of the 1940's, something you very rarely see nowadays, and I have always liked a great deal Michael Kitchen every time I have seen him in a film. I would therefore recommend the film to all those who like "period pieces" but would warn that the plot is rather tame and subdued and that if you are looking for passion, sex and romance you might be left disappointed, or at least hungering for more, especially as the ending is rather flat and unoriginal. As you can see, my feelings are rather mixed, there is good and bad but globally my appreciation will be positive, hence a rating of 7 !!
Review of Mrs Dalloway
