{"id":16880,"date":"2018-08-22T17:51:42","date_gmt":"2018-08-22T15:51:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leregardlibre.com\/?p=16880"},"modified":"2025-12-04T22:39:55","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T21:39:55","slug":"on-the-chesil-beach-a-drama-that-speaks-to-the-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/leregardlibre.com\/en\/cinema\/films\/on-the-chesil-beach-a-drama-that-speaks-to-the-heart\/","title":{"rendered":"\u00abOn Chesil Beach\u00bb, a drama that speaks to the heart"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Chesil Beach<\/em> opens on breathtakingly beautiful tracks, with the warm timbre of a saxophone as the soundtrack. A jazzy moment between joy and melancholy, foreshadowing the musical dimension that will be central to the film. This English drama, directed by Dominic Cooke, is an adaptation of the 2007 novel by Ian McEwan - the same author whose novel My Lady<\/em> was also brought to the big screen a week ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Read also | \u00abMy Lady<\/em>, when a young Jehovah's Witness refuses a blood transfusion\u00bb.\u00bb<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The film focuses on a young couple in England in the early 1960s. Edward (Billy Howle) and Florence (Saoirse Ronan) have just married and are about to begin their wedding night at an inn in Dorset. Both are equally inexperienced in love: it's a first, and the fear freezes the blood of Mr. and Mrs. Howle alike. The film, which can be understood in three stages, first gives us a glimpse of this tense evening, opening the doors to intimacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The doors of intimacy<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It's all about the sexual intimacy of the newlyweds. And to get to the heart of this intimacy, the film doesn't need to show us any private parts: without us seeing anything, at least nothing juicy, it's their gestures, their looks, their silences, that make us feel their unease. Edward's mouth trembles when Florence suggests the name Chlo\u00e9 if they ever have a daughter. He struggles to find the words to take her to bed: \u00abI love you. You're so... I have to kiss you.\u00bb<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There's also a certain comic quality to this first part of the film, as in this dialogue: \u00abYou know what, I'd like to take your stockings off. - I think I'd better do it myself.\u00bb Edward smiles awkwardly. These intimate moments are particularly well done. Another example of comedy is the presence of the staff to serve the meal in the bedroom. The couple are uncomfortable; the waiters laugh under their beards. But as we soon realize, this slapstick comedy conceals a tragedy, and the viewer's laughter soon gives way to pity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n