In the second widescreen version of My Cousin Rachel, a young landowner falls in love with a widow. This brilliant, ambiguous drama by Daphne Du Maurier about attraction and suspicion during the reign of Queen Victoria in England.
Background
There is a long-standing mysterious power of the Du Maurier story, which was first shown on the big screen shortly after its printed publication. It was a film adaptation of 1952, where Olivia de Havilland and Richard Burton starred.
Fox Searchlight Pictures, a film company, decided to give a new sound to old stories, so it presented the audience with the new 2017 movie My Cousin Rachel, based on the same novel.
Since there was an earlier film production on this book du Maurier, which, moreover, became a bestseller, the producers decided to approach the film thoroughly and not to face the dirt.
Creators
And we can say that they succeeded. Camera crew of "My cousin Rachel" trusted lead Roger Michell, an English director known for the Hyde Park on the Hudson movie, where Bill Murray plays Franklin Roosevelt unmatched.
Extremely successful was the choice of Mike Or as the operator of the picture. You will not see any scenes with a twitching camera in the new-fangled "first-person shooting" style in this film. Artistic techniques of M. Or pleasing to the eye, they allow the viewer to make a good opinion about the film “My cousin Rachel”, in terms of presentation of the picture. Views of nature are demonstrated with truly piercing, screaming aesthetics. The atmosphere of the noble life with all these candelabra, tapestries, silverware, dinner parties and a description of the English landlord life is conveyed very skillfully.
Actors
Ash Clay is played by Sam Cloughlin, a young talented English actor who has starred in several first-line films over the past few years. True, in episodic roles. The cousin is played by the beautiful Rachel Weisz, winner of the Academy Award for Best Actress in a supporting actress in the 2006 film The Faithful Gardener, in which she played Tessa Quail. As we can see, the main character and actress, accustomed to this image on the screen, have each other namesakes, which contributed to Weiss more fully feel the significance of his mission.
Actors in "My Cousin Rachel", those chosen to play leading roles in the film look harmoniously in their roles. They interact with each other, not without diligence, carry out their duties on the set.
History
"The plot of my cousin Rachel" intriguing from the very beginning, he keeps the viewer in suspense until the appearance of the final credits.
The action of the late 1830s takes place almost entirely on the estate on the southern coast of England. My cousin Rachel's main character, Philip Ashley, was born and raised here. He was orphaned early and was adopted by his cousin, cousin Ambrose, who was just right for his father's age. Ambrose was a bachelor; he had no children of his own. Years passed. Now Philip, having studied at the university, and not wanting to pursue a career in London, as a result of his aversion to tricky conversations and long journeys, returned to the estate. Ambrose fell ill. Doctors recommended that he leave dank England and move to a warmer place. Cousin, a former wealthy landowner, was not embarrassed in his means, so he readily followed the advice of doctors. He went to Florence to correct his shaky health. Philip remains on the farm as a future heir.
Rachel. First appearance
Ambrose sends him letters from Italy. They begin to feature a young widow named Rachel. He admires her, falls in love with her and marries her. However, the cousin's health in a foreign land is deteriorating. Soon the tone of the letters changes, they become full of bitterness and fear, a cousin directly indicates to Philip about his suspicions about his wife. She brings him to the grave, suffocates, envelops, slowly poisons herbal infusions. Moreover, it is completely incomprehensible where the meaning of these words is figurative and where not. Ambrose's handwriting in letters is becoming less and less legible, he conspiratorially urges his pupil to urgently come, having drawn this prayer not on the letter, but on the inside of the envelope. Philip goes to Italy. Arriving, he discovers an empty house, and in it Rinaldi, an Italian, close to Rachel, who reported that his cousin had rested from a brain tumor, and the inconsolable widow left this monastery, where everything too clearly reminded her of her experiences.
A meeting
Philip returns to England as an heir, a legally registered entry will take place upon reaching his 25th birthday, that is, very soon. Further, what follows is why Du Maurier's novel was so popular in its day. It is reported that the widow intends to visit the estate of Philip. He is preparing to arrive from Florence Rachel, the ex-wife of his beloved cousin and guardian Ambrose, and, undoubtedly, his killer, because everything pointed to this. Philip’s desire to blame her for death and stigmatize is undergoing metamorphoses, migrating to a completely different field of aspiration. Without noticing it, he falls in love with her.
The cast of actors in My Cousin Rachel is magnificent: Weiss manages to convey to the viewer the image of a calculating poor widow (the cousin did not leave her any inheritance), depicting humble humility with truly feminine treachery. One gets the feeling that she intended to tire out a young relative, and at the same time to seize his money. Rinaldi arrives. Ashley finds a warmth of their relationship with Rachel that goes beyond friendship. He is jealous. Helpful friends and acquaintances add fuel to the fire, providing an influx of unpleasant fresh rumors about the cousin's past to the ears of the young heir.
Rumor has it that this is not her first marriage, from which she comes out as a widow, that she is known for her motivation and love of luxurious life. After a passionate explanation between them, convincing him that she is an honest poor widow, left without a livelihood, and whose only income is Italian, Philippe orders to allocate money for the maintenance of Rachel. The viewer, of course, draws conclusions about the insidiousness of the widow in the business of taunting the rich heir, her hypertrophied silver loving.
As the plot develops, these multidirectional beliefs (between the viewer and Philip), generously fueled by appropriate hints, only intensify. Ashley recklessly draws up a donation, according to which the cousin passes the whole inheritance on the day when he receives rights to him. At the climax of this line, when he gives the widow the inheritance he received, hoping that she will marry him, Rachel coldly refuses him. They live under the same roof as strangers. Philip is broken, crushed, broken, regrets his crazy deed and does not remember past love. The main character gets sick. All this makes me want to write a review for the film "My cousin Rachel", because the picture is dramatic.
Ambiguity of outcome
However, not everything is so simple, so this film story should be watched to the end. The plot of “My cousin Rachel” 2017 release is not as linear as it seems at first glance. Ashley’s disease, strikingly similar in symptoms to the cousin’s fatal illness, is progressing. The same headaches, fainting, seizures of causeless anger. And Rachel’s treatment offers the same thing: enhanced drinking of unknown herbal infusions, which only make him worse. The viewer is absolutely convinced - the villain uses a well-established scheme for laying a wealthy English landowner in a coffin, followed by the seizure of his assets. Such plot twists are reminiscent of a thriller with elements of a detective story (reviews of the movie “My Cousin Rachel” confirm this). It was at a time when a maximum of evidence began to indicate that Rachel was a prudent black widow, the design of these logical conclusions began to give the first cracks.
A letter comes from the lawyer that she returned to Philip the
family jewels that he hastily and recklessly presented to her. Later it turns out that her Italian friend Rinaldi is indifferent to women.
Then he again plots the plot in favor of the black widow version, when Ashley refuses the persistently offered “healing” herbal infusion, he becomes better.
The viewer is not at all sure of the truth of the conclusions made earlier.
As a result, Rachel falls off a cliff during a horseback ride and dies. Ashley will soon marry a longtime girlfriend who gives birth to two children, he is tormented by migraines and impending blindness.
The viewer is left in agonizing uncertainty. Was Rachel involved in the death of her husband, Ambrose, and Ashley's poisoning, or was it a brain tumor in both cases? Are rumors of her past true? Who was she, after all, a victim or a calculating black widow who failed to realize her plan? The viewer will have to answer these questions himself.
Reviews
Critics give good reviews about the movie "My cousin Rachel." The picture was warmly received by them, but the box office was modest.
Despite the fact that the tape was released in 2017, this film story clearly depicts the problems of more than a century and a half ago, affecting marriage and property, morality and women's independence, and we see that these issues have not lost their relevance to this day.