David Farnor | On 20, Jun 2014

Director: Ralph Fiennes
Cast: Felicity Jones, Ralph Fiennes, Michelle Fairley, Joanna Scanlan
Certificate: 12

“You men, you live your lives while it is we who have to wait.” – Nelly Ternan

(To be sung to the song American Woman by The Guess Who.)

Invisible woman, looks like it could be
A typical film produced by the BBC
A costume drama about Dickens
And the lady that he always kept hidden
A real story with lots of nice costumes
And period houses, yeah, you just assume…

But Woman, don’t stay away
Invisible Woman’s perfectly ok.

Invisible Woman, written by Morgan Abi
But this is less Shame and more The Iron Lady
The premise of a school mistress
Doing his play while remembering their tryst
Feels a little bit contrived
But the earnest emotions will hypnotise.

Yeah, woman, she gets her way
Invisible Woman – you’ll want to stay.

[Guitar solo, Charles Dickens style]

Invisible Woman, directed by Ralph Fiennes
He reins back his camera, lets it all unwind
At a snail’s pace that might have bored
If it wasn’t for Felicity Jones at its core
She manages to be young and naive
But also mature and sadly grieved.
Fiennes is fun as the famous guy
But Felicity brings their romance to life.

That woman – steals the show away
Invisible Woman? She won’t stay that way.

 

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