Laura Havlick

Cryptic. A Quiet Passion was a disjointed story without a natural continuity between her happy moments and sad, focusing on dramatic moments to portray her reality, along with relevant poetry added to show her sensitivities and thoughts about the moment. At least it caused me to became curious about her life and I consulted Wikipedia while watching this film, which detailed the structure to her life. The film was too easy to get lost in, due to long visits to the defining events in her life and too maudlin for contemporary tastes. It’s a shame but I never felt much of sympathy for her and wasn’t sure which of her rebellions were idiosyncratic (and which were arising from a keen artistic sensibility) and which were shared by others rebelling against a strict religion and societal mores. The family dysfunction based on the authoritarian father and withdrawn mother was not fleshed out satisfactorily. I was left with more questions than answers and only hints about her psychology. I would’ve liked to see her sister discover her letters and poems after her death and more about everyone’s feelings rather than a tableau of melodramatic weeping family members at her death and her parents’ deaths. Watch only if you’re interested in Emily Dickinson and willing to sit through it to see if it has anything to speak to you.

Interesting, authentic characters and situations. Kept me guessing which is good for a movie with an obvious main plot. Very sweet, sometimes a little too real, but overall a romp in careful balance with serious moments. Brilliant characterizations and a definite consciousness-raiser about people with disabilities.

A little convoluted but enough comedic touches when needed to suspend disbelief and enough drama to be heartfelt. A wonderful, memorable performance by Marcia Gay Harden and a surprisingly competent portrayal by “the other woman.” Fun romp with down-to-earth advice given and dramatic ending not what you would expect.

This was a subtle movie, beautiful and dreamlike, from the perspective of a young girl going into a new situation to go live for the first time. The vision for the film was lovingly tended to and there was almost a dreamlike quality throughout, though harsh realities were not ignored or painted over. I felt immersed in her world and rooting for her to absorb some of the love and magic of this world as she had already lived some of the bleakness and deprivation of the world. Her family life was a common enough scenario but the vision for her experience of it was unique. Highly recommended, especially if you love poetry, long rides in the country, and a romanticized version of farm life in Ireland or Wales.

This well-paced period piece draws you into the world of Clarice Cliff, a brilliant and successful designer of colorful geometric pottery. Her story was well told regarding her family and social station. She ultimately blazed a trail in the staid British pottery business with her passion for new and innovative designs. She was also accomplished in the methods for realizing those designs in her pottery. Very inspirational to me!

A little schmaltzy at first, but then it grows on you and the acting is heartfelt and true. Has some really poignant moments and then you just get swept away into another time (1910), place (San Francisco), and family (Norwegian). I’m a little teary now….