ETHAN FROME A film review by Steve Rhodes Copyright 1998 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ***
The young Reverend Smith (Tate Donovan) in 1993's ETHAN FROME leaves his cosmopolitan Boston to take up his new post in a cold, isolated New England town. A generous man, the Reverend gives a job to the town's pariah, Ethan Frome. Ethan, a cripple who shuffles with a terrible limp, has one injured arm, and slumps to one-side like a hunchback, is a mysterious man who lives in the most remote cabin in the village. People part like the Red Sea when he comes walking by.
Shown in flashback before the accident that maimed Ethan, we learn Ethan's story. Ethan was married to a woman, Zeena, who had "just about every sickness known to mankind." After five years, Zeena arranges for their young and attractive relative, Mattie Silver, to come to live with them so she can take care of Zeena. Slowly Ethan begins to fall in love with the warm and lively Mattie, whom the cold and distant Zeena resents.
Liam Neeson, in a tender and understated performance, plays Ethan. A man with a promising future as an engineer, he has to give it up and his dream to move to Florida when he gets tied down with a sickly wife and an uncompleted education. Liam gives a carefully constructed characterization of a long-suffering man who has relegated his life's ambitions to his wife's needs.
In a spirited portrayal of Mattie, Patricia Arquette shows her as a simple girl swept away by the romance of the situation. In close confines with a handsome married man, whose wife is a hypochondriac and a constant complainer, Mattie is naturally tempted.
Joan Allen, who plays the weak and sickly better than almost anyone, is Zeena, Ethan's insufferable wife. Allen's Zeena is extremely easy to hate and despise. Zeena is so irritating that even the most fervent anti-adulterer will empathize with Ethan's need to abandon her and run to Mattie for love and companionship.
Director John Madden from HER MAJESTY, MRS. BROWN has just the right delicate hand not to overwhelm the subtleties of the story, based on the Edith Wharton novel. The sad and bitter tale set in a bleak but lovely countryside has graceful Rachel Portman music to accompany the images.
The handsome cinematography uses the snow-crusted landscapes to maximum advantage. The snow becomes both the most beautiful and the most frightening aspect. Freezing cold, it makes Ethan's Florida dream palpably desirable and yet far removed from any possible reality for him.
A tragedy that turns on events as small as a broken vase ends soon after the flashback gets to the dramatic recollection of the accident. Even when you know it is coming, it still takes your breath away.
ETHAN FROME runs 1:50. It is rated PG for mature themes and would be fine for kids 10 and up although they would probably need to be teenagers to be interested.
Email: Steve.Rhodes@InternetReviews.com Web: www.InternetReviews.com
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