REVIEW: 'Ammonite' - a cold love story
"I don’t want to go back to the life I had before you."
It is 1840. The waves of the ocean roll up on the southern English coast. The sky is overcast. The weather has become increasingly cold. Despite the harsh conditions, a solitary woman strikes out in search of her prize. Fossils, the rocky remains of the creatures once on the Earth. A newly discovered science, paleontology was enthralling the world with its tales of creatures from the land before time. Mary Anning was one of these people to first illuminate the secrets of the Earth's ancient history.
Based on the life of Mary Anning (played by Kate Winslet), a significant British paleontologist, Francis Lee's Ammonite centres around Anning's fictional romance with Charlotte Murchison (played by Saoirse Ronan), a friend of Anning and one of her contemporaries. Ammonite is a slow burn drama set amidst the cold dreariness of the coast of Dorset, England. However, in the cold shadow of the English channel, romance blossoms between the film's two leads.
I remember becoming excited when I first heard of the film's existence in September of last year. Having just recently seen a screening of Celine Sciamma's Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) and becoming absolutely spellbound by the film, I put my hopes in Ammonite achieving a similar sort of effect on me. Between the promise of a historical romance reminiscent of Portrait, the news of Ronan and Winslet playing the leading roles, and the filmmaker behind it all, I was thoroughly anticipating the film's release and thought, that if Lee was to play his cards right, it was going to be a strong contender for my favourite film of 2020. Tragically, I was sorely disappointed with the result.
Ammonite is far from a bad film, yet it is heartbreakingly far from a brilliant film. It exists in this ugly middle ground where, while good, it's not particularly memorable or worth mentioning beyond a passing remark. There are a lot of things I do appreciate about Ammonite, however, and I think it is best to start the discussion of this film with those positive elements.
The most significant highlights of Ammonite are the two performances from Winslet and Ronan, each adding a welcome presence to the picture. Ammonite is a film angling for awards season recognition. With a significantly slimmed down contender's pool, nominations for the two lead actresses don't seem unlikely. Winslet and Ronan are both awards season darlings, having each attracted numerous awards and plenty more nominations throughout their respective careers.
Winslet is a well-established performer. Most famous for her leading role in the iconic James Cameron film Titanic (1997), she has dozens of other screen credits from Steve Jobs (2016), to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), to Contagion (2011). Her reserved and closed off Mary Anning is a fascinating character to watch as she gets closer to Ronan's Murchison. Ronan is one of contemporary cinema's most exciting young performers. Starting her career as a child, she has lept into the public consciousness through performances in Brooklyn (2015) and The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) but is especially notable for leading Greta Gerwig's films Little Women (2019) and Lady Bird (2017). Her performance as the unstable Murchison is yet another fantastic work from the actress.
However, beyond the performances of the leading actresses, Ammonite lacks excellence and gravitas to make it stick in the minds of its viewer. Lee seems to confuse the lack of warmth in the surroundings with giving the romance between Anning and Murchison a lack of passion or energy. It is no fault of the performers who work to the best of their ability with the material they're provided, but rather a problem with the film as a whole. When the film does become energetic and passionate, it comes from the moments of intimacy between the performers themselves, who, notably, choreographed the intimate moments themselves.
It is fine to cast a feeling of dreariness at the beginning of the film as we are introduced to Anning, but the lack of energy in the presentation as the relationship evolves drags the film down. Even the moments of intimacy between the two characters are shot brutally straight on with no artistry. Then, in the film scene of the film when Anning visits Murchison in London, the film is suddenly given more energy and life. It is a frustrating moment that only reminded me of how much better the film could easily be.
Ammonite's lack of passion in his filmmaking drags the film down from what it could be, or, rather, from what it should be. Lee's film is a film without a clear heart or soul. It has the barebones of what should be a riveting historical drama, but Lee has no real purpose or intentionality to his craft. What's left is a sloppy film with a lack of genuine emotional investment. It plays like a badly written historical fan fiction instead of a serious Oscar-contending drama led by two of the most famous actresses in Hollywood. The barebones are good, but Ammonite needs the artistry of other, better films in its genre to elevate it to a worthwhile work of cinema.
Score: 3
Ammonite is now playing in limited theatres and available on VOD.
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