175. Ammonite; movie review

 

 

AMMONITE

Cert 15

118 mins

BBFC advice: Contains strong sex

O'er missus... Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan starkers, making passionate love.

Well, their characters, not the actresses but you get the drift.

This isn't what we expect to see in a period drama but it was the crescendo of a romance which had previously been a very slow burn.

This is a story, inspired by Mary Anning who gained recognition for her startling work excavating fossils from the coast of Lyme Regis in the 19th century.

But it is not a biopic - there is no evidence of Miss Anning's sexuality, only that she was dedicated to her science and lived very frugally.

And that is where Francis Lee's movie alights upon her - living with her mother and running a small shop selling fossils and other beach finds.

Winslet plays Anning as dowdy and miserable, demonstrating more love for her work than other humans.

She is particularly dismissive of fossil-enthusiast Roderick Murchison (James McArdle) when he asks to pick her brain.

His enthusiasm for the subject leads him to go on an expedition and leave his sickly wife (Ronan) in Lyme Regis to take the air and sea waters.

He asks Anning to keep an eye out for her but the fossil-hunter is initially less than keen to play nursemaid.

Equally grumpy about the idea is Anning's mother (Gemma Jones) but only later does it become clear why.

Ammonite is sold as a gay love story but it takes a heck of a long time for even a furtive glance to be exchanged between the privileged young wife and the unfriendly spinster.

And that is the problem with Ammonite - there is too long spent on very little and when it does burst into life, it is over pretty quickly.

So, while Winslet and Ronan do get the chance to show off their acting prowess while wrapped in thick 19th-century garb, the problem is that the storyline is rather dull.

Ammonite becomes a bit of a toss-up between Winslet and Jones to see who can do the most displeased stare while Ronan spends most of her time being tended to on a sickbed.

Thus, I was turned off by the main characters long before the aforementioned rumpy-pumpy.

Reasons to watch: Strong performances by Winslet and Ronan

Reasons to avoid: Labours too long

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: Yes

Overall rating: 6/10

Did you know? Ammonites, which evolved about 416 million years ago, were once the most abundant animals of the ancient seas. Scientists have identified more than 10,000 ammonite species, such as Arnioceras semocostatum pictured here, and use their shells to date other fossils.

The final word. Kate Winslet: "She was a woman of pure integrity. She was impoverished, uneducated, and completely self-taught…. She found her first ichthyosaurs at the age of 11, for God’s sake. And it took almost a year to dig it out. She lived an extremely frugal existence. She just got on with it. She just accepted that she lived in a time of systemic repression, a patriarchal society that dictated that her successes would never be seen or celebrated in her lifetime. And yet she didn’t complain. She was compassionate and she was kind." Vanity Fair

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