![]() ![]() ![]() Lonely and frustrated, Effie is drawn to pre-Raphaelite painter John. At nineteen, she married the prominent art historian and critic John Ruskin (Greg Wise), but Ruskin refused to consummate their marriage. Fanning does a fine job of portraying a woman who's beaten down and then learns to stand up, and Emma Thompson lights up the screen in a small role as Effie's sole ally, but the two acresses aren't enough to make Effie Gray watchable. Based on the real-life scandal that shocked Victorian-era England, this movie tells the story of Euphemia 'Effie' Gray (Dakota Fanning). Effie Gray (2015) A look at the scandalous love triangle between Victorian art critic John Ruskin (Greg Wise), his teenage bride Euphemia 'Effie' Gray (Dakota Fanning), and Pre-Raphaelite painter John Everett Millais (Tom Sturridge). There's just no light in this movie, no joy. Starring Dakota Fanning as the young Scottish bride and written by costar Emma Thompson, Effie Gray is never less than gorgeous to look at both indoors and out, as cinematographer Andrew. Though they perhaps echo the subject material, the drab, underlit interior shots and dreary exterior scenes - especially during an extended sojourn in Scotland - fail to make the heart quicken as it should. It doesn't help that this period drama looks perpetually dismal and dark. Trapped in a loveless marriage, the young wife of Victorian-era art critic John Ruskin finds herself falling for an artist and looking for a way out. We feel for her - it's difficult not to empathize when her husband is such an awful beast - but we get so little insight into why he is the way he is that we stop caring why. ( Spoiler alert: She eventually worked up the nerve to leave her spouse, with whom she lived with unhappily.) But Effie Gray, the film, starts with what could have been a classic love triangle tale but instead becomes an uninspired, laboriously told one. It is based on the true story of John Ruskins marriage to Euphemia Gray and the subsequent annulment of their marriage. ![]() Once upon a time there was a Scottish girl, Effie, who was. Effie Gray speaks to the heart and pays soft homage to the woman whose life we see unfold. Effie Gray, the historical figure, is a real-life tragic character with a feel-good ending. 'Effie Gray' is such a deranged story that it makes sense to frame it as a fairy tale, even though its based on real events. A beautifully crafted film filled with a haunting stillness and melancholy touched with moments of humor. ![]()
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