Susan Granger's review of "FIRELIGHT" (Miramax Films)
Oscar-nominated screenwriter William Nicholson ("Nell," "Shadowlands") makes his directorial debut with this historical romance, starring beautiful Sophie Marceau ("Braveheart," "Anna Karenina") as a Swiss governess who, in 1838, agrees to a secret pact with the only son (Stephen Dillane) of a British aristocrat. He is married to an invalid who cannot conceive and he desperately wants to sire an heir, while she needs to pay of her father's financial debts. They meet at a picturesque yet remote hotel in France, sharing three days and nights of passion. Nine months pass and she gives birth to a daughter who is immediately taken away from her. Seven years later, she is unwittingly hired as a governess to a snobbish spoiled, stubborn young girl (Dominique Belcourt) on a remote Sussex estate. Of course, the hateful child is her own and the stunned aristocrat swears her to secrecy - as their clandestine affair begins once again. With the help of cinematographer Nic Morris, most of the pivotal scenes take place in that haunting time when the sun has gone down and the candles have been extinguished, creating a lush, intimate atmosphere as flames flicker in the fireplace. This is one of those old-fashioned, slow-moving, over-wrought bodice-rippers that once were the staple of Gainsborough Studios in England. It's like a screen version of a paperback Harlequin romance. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, "Firelight" is a melodramatic 4, a soap opera targeted specifically at women.
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