Monday 10 February 2014


The Invisible Woman is quite simply brilliant and within minutes I felt transported back to the 1860s ...  whisked out of my cinema seat to be at one of Dickens' public readings, or up in the balcony at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester, watching him perform The Frozen Deep. The details are wonderful, from Victorian wallpapers to the scene at Doncaster races which could have been William Powell Frith's Derby Day. It raises some interesting questions about the position of women in Victorian society... when Dickens and Nelly are involved in an altercation on the doorstep, a constable says, "Is this lady bothering you, Sir?" And, although Nelly's mother is clearly complicit in their relationship ... how else can poor Nelly support herself as the only untalented member of a theatrical family?
The best performance, though, is Joanna Scanlan's fat, frumpy Mrs Dickens - who, in one heartbreaking scene, is forced by her husband to deliver a gift of jewellery to Nelly, after it was wrongly addressed by the jeweller who assumed it was meant for his wife. As for Dickens, he's vain, dandyish, endlessly energetic, ruthless, selfish - and completely irresistible. And I should think Claire Tomalin is completely thrilled by this adaptation of her biography.

4 comments:

Noelle the dreamer said...

Thanks Mary! Let's hope it comes in a DVD format soon so that we can enjoy it as well (it is doubtful we will be transported out of our chairs though...I cannot recall the last time I saw a cinema...sad!)
Mary, I love your wit, please keep writing!

mary said...

Oh, Noelle, it's not the same on a small screen! On the other hand, you miss sharing the experience with other people ... one old dear this afternoon who couldn't find her husband in the dark on her way back from the loo, yelled out. "Tom, where are you?"

Sunday Taylor said...

I agree with you, this movie was excellent. All of the performances were great, the time period was evoked so well and the ambiance was perfect. And yes, the actress who played Mrs. Dickens gave a heartbreaking performance. Ralph Fiennes is certainly having a Dickens of a year (couldn't resist!). Did you see "Great Expectations"? I am so happy to be able to immerse myself in this world through both movies.

mary said...

I didn't see the recent one, Sunday; think David Lean's will always be my favourite Great Expectations.