Please note, this movie is not some sort of treatment of Shakespeare's play or character. It is, really, just a short cut way of letting a potential viewer know they are about to encounter a cold, calculating woman who will literally stop at nothing to get what she desires.
We first meet Katherine as she is getting married in one of those cold, stone English churches. We find out quickly that she has essentially been "sold" to her new husband, a gruff, grubby farmer/landowner in what I'd guess is Northern England in the 19th century. They don't know each other and they have no relationship. And he's not exactly a doting husband. He tells his new bride (who looks to be in her teens...the actress, Florence Pugh, was 19 at the time of filming) that she should confine herself to the house. Her new father-in-law, and even rougher and crustier version of the husband, tells her the same. He admonished her for not producing an heir...something that will be tough, since her new husband does not sleep with her. He clearly has some hang-ups, and his new wife is of no real interest to him, so she pretty much spends her days just sitting around, waiting to eat her next meal and later, to go to bed. She has no friends, but an odd sort of relationship develops with her maid.
Anyway, early in the film, while her husband and father-in-law are out...she begins to wander the land around the farm. And sure enough, her husband was right to fear her wandering, because she meets a rude, coarse but sexy farmhand, and begins a torrid affair with him. She enjoys herself quite thoroughly, and apparently doesn't care who knows it. They make loud, unmistakable noises in the house. The community begins to get an idea of what she's up to. (There's an amusing scene where the town minister pays her a visit for tea, encouraging her to spend less time outdoors, and more at church. Apparently the fresh air in this part of the world turns women into animals!!) So, Katherine begins to encounter obstacles to her being with her man.
The movie delights in showing us the extreme tactics she takes on to get what she wants. And she has no moral brakes that we can see. Her passions are cold and calculated. Watching Pugh take on this character is a blast. We see her mind working. She's constantly observing, assessing and taking action based on her observations. She manipulates. She will stop at nothing, and towards the end, there is a shocking scene during which I though...well, I've never seen this depicted on screen quite so disturbingly.
This is a slow burn of a movie. The sex scenes are passionate and energetic, but brief. Everything else moves at a stately pace. This is not an "action" movie. It has moments of humor, certainly, but the entire film has a dark cast to it. The lighting and the bleak land help...but so does Pugh's understated (but somehow juicy) performance. The film has a few unanswered questions (what's up with the maid?) and ends at a point where we feel there's more story to be told. And while we can clearly read Katherine's mind, the other characters are most cyphers. In a way, this reinforces the notion that everyone else is being seen through HER eyes, and those eyes don't much care what's going on in the minds of others...BUT for the audience, we'd probably like to know a little more about the other folks in this world.
But overall, I found the movie to be a treat to watch, and the story was certainly quite different. Some themes were familiar, but I've never seen them played out in this manner. Certainly worth a look.
We first meet Katherine as she is getting married in one of those cold, stone English churches. We find out quickly that she has essentially been "sold" to her new husband, a gruff, grubby farmer/landowner in what I'd guess is Northern England in the 19th century. They don't know each other and they have no relationship. And he's not exactly a doting husband. He tells his new bride (who looks to be in her teens...the actress, Florence Pugh, was 19 at the time of filming) that she should confine herself to the house. Her new father-in-law, and even rougher and crustier version of the husband, tells her the same. He admonished her for not producing an heir...something that will be tough, since her new husband does not sleep with her. He clearly has some hang-ups, and his new wife is of no real interest to him, so she pretty much spends her days just sitting around, waiting to eat her next meal and later, to go to bed. She has no friends, but an odd sort of relationship develops with her maid.
Anyway, early in the film, while her husband and father-in-law are out...she begins to wander the land around the farm. And sure enough, her husband was right to fear her wandering, because she meets a rude, coarse but sexy farmhand, and begins a torrid affair with him. She enjoys herself quite thoroughly, and apparently doesn't care who knows it. They make loud, unmistakable noises in the house. The community begins to get an idea of what she's up to. (There's an amusing scene where the town minister pays her a visit for tea, encouraging her to spend less time outdoors, and more at church. Apparently the fresh air in this part of the world turns women into animals!!) So, Katherine begins to encounter obstacles to her being with her man.
The movie delights in showing us the extreme tactics she takes on to get what she wants. And she has no moral brakes that we can see. Her passions are cold and calculated. Watching Pugh take on this character is a blast. We see her mind working. She's constantly observing, assessing and taking action based on her observations. She manipulates. She will stop at nothing, and towards the end, there is a shocking scene during which I though...well, I've never seen this depicted on screen quite so disturbingly.
This is a slow burn of a movie. The sex scenes are passionate and energetic, but brief. Everything else moves at a stately pace. This is not an "action" movie. It has moments of humor, certainly, but the entire film has a dark cast to it. The lighting and the bleak land help...but so does Pugh's understated (but somehow juicy) performance. The film has a few unanswered questions (what's up with the maid?) and ends at a point where we feel there's more story to be told. And while we can clearly read Katherine's mind, the other characters are most cyphers. In a way, this reinforces the notion that everyone else is being seen through HER eyes, and those eyes don't much care what's going on in the minds of others...BUT for the audience, we'd probably like to know a little more about the other folks in this world.
But overall, I found the movie to be a treat to watch, and the story was certainly quite different. Some themes were familiar, but I've never seen them played out in this manner. Certainly worth a look.