ANGELS & INSECTS
A film review by Ben Hoffman
Copyright 1996 Ben Hoffman
About 150 years ago there was the Victorian age, known for decorum and modesty, even prudery. When we think of that period, the very word, "Victorian" brings that certain image to mind. Still, people are unpredictable and, regardless of the age in which they live, there are secrets about which most of us know nothing. One such secret was discovered by a naturalist, William @Adamson (Mark Rylance) who lost all his specimens he had studied and collected in South America when on his return to England he was shipwrecked.
Many educated and wealthy men of the time engaged in studying nature. When one such, the Reverend Alabaster, (Jeremy Kemp) heard of the disaster that had befallen Adamson, he took him into his home where Adamson met and fell in love with the beautiful daughter of the Reverend, Eugenia (Patsy Kensit).
Adamson seemed to have indeed fallen into great luck but nothing ever runs smoothly. Adamson wondered why his wife was a tiger in bed at night but a cool cucumber during the day. He could find no explanation. The other bothersome part of being in the household was that his brother-in-law, Edgar, (Douglas Henshall) who despite being of the aristocracy was in fact a disgruntled boor and seemed to have an intense dislike of Adamson. It seems that he wanted the Alabaster family kept pure; Adamson does not fill the mold of a blond, beautiful family. When the secret of the Alabasters is out, it is an exploding bombshell.
The film is ably helped by Mary (Kristin Scott Thomas), a poor relation who lives with the family but who has more in common intellectually with William than he does with his wife.
While on the surface this may appear to be a costume film of the Victorian Age, with the evolutionary theory of Darwin making its presence known, the movie is much, much more. Highly recommended.
Directed by Philip Haas
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Ben Hoffman
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