On Chesil Beach (2017)

Directed by: Dominic Cooke | 110 minutes | drama | Actors: Saoirse Ronan, Billy Howle, Anne-Marie Duff, Emily Watson, Adrian Scarborough, Mia Burgess, Anna Burgess, Bebe Cave, Samuel West, John Ramm, Barney Iley, Mark Donald, Imogen Daines, Molly Miles, Victoria Hamnett, Marianne Cecil, Martin Bassindale, Daniel Boyd, Oliver Johnstone, Philip Labey

Until the mid-1980s, British author Ian McEwan was known as Ian Macabre. The first novels he published – ‘The Cement Garden’ and ‘The Comfort of Strangers’ – were rather dark in tone. In order to appeal to a wider audience, he decided to adopt a different style. Some of the permanent themes in his work became the twist of fate and fears that society imposes on us. He became a master at creating extreme situations in which the main characters of his books find themselves. By a twist of fate, their lives will never be the same. The theme lends itself perfectly to stories that also do very well on film, and so McEwan became one of the most filmed contemporary authors. ‘The Cement Garden’ (1993), ‘The Innocent’ (1993), ‘Enduring Love’ (2004) and the acclaimed ‘Atonement’ (2007) are all written by McEwan. In 2017, two book adaptations by McEwan were released: ‘The Children Act’ and ‘On Chesil Beach’. The British author wrote the screenplay for the latter film himself, something he hadn’t done since ‘The Innocent.

‘On Chesil Beach’ analyzes the relationship between a man and a woman, who struggle with the physical aspect of their union. Edward (Billy Howle) and Florence (Saoirse Ronan) are as blue as they can get when they get married. But the knowledge that a wedding night will follow hangs like a dark cloud over the two young lovers. Because the two are ignorant, insecure, inexperienced and uncomfortable about sex and their own and each other’s bodies. And where that manifests itself in Edward in eager frustration, Florence cringes in fear. But they are simply expected to experience that wedding night… To put the story into context, it is 1962 and we are on the eve of the sexual revolution. But Edward and Florence seem to be nailed down in the stiff 1950s. Marriage is a veritable institution today and society’s expectations have major consequences for young people.

Flashbacks help us get to know Edward and Florence better. So we see how they first met, and that it is love at first sight. Both have just graduated: Florence is a great musical talent and Edward completed a history study. They come from very different backgrounds: he comes from humble origins, with a hard-working teacher (Adrian Scarborough) as a father and a brilliant mother (Anne-Marie Duff) who has suffered serious brain damage in a fatal accident. She comes from a wealthy family; her father (Samuel West) owns a factory and her haughty mother (Emily Watson) thinks Edward is too little for her daughter. But Florence and Edward love each other, that’s for sure. And so there is a marriage. But in the run-up to the much-dreaded wedding night, unprocessed emotions and events, stubborn insecurities and unspoken taboos surface that seriously stand in the way of physical contact.

‘On Chesil Beach’ is a cold-hearted, reserved and very brave (sometimes even a bit frumpy) film that largely stays true to the novel, which, according to McEwan, is delicate and intimate. Why he decided to come up with a final chord for the film that takes place 45 years later, and also completely breaks loose in those last ten minutes with the forced melodrama that he had so skilfully avoided in the hundred minutes before, is a mystery. The fact is that those last ten minutes – except for the beautiful very last shot – detract from the film as a whole. And then we haven’t even mentioned the artificial aging of the protagonists. Dominic Cooke, a renowned British theater director, makes his feature film debut with ‘On Chesil Beach’ (Sam Mendes and Ang Lee also starred in the film) and proves that he knows his way around actors. Ronan and Howle (and to a lesser extent the great arsenal of supporting actors) hold their own, flawlessly and subtly expressing the discomfort their characters experience, but can’t prevent the viewer’s attention from slacking off on a regular basis. Is it because of the too neat tone, the profusion of flashbacks or the rippling tempo, or a combination of these that ‘On Chesil Beach’ is not as oppressive as we had hoped?

It is all beautiful to look at. Cooke cleverly captures the zeitgeist and by using the right lighting, we actually imagine ourselves at the beginning of the sixties. Here and there he treats us to a beautiful shot or a small, engaging scene in which Ronan’s talent in particular comes to the fore. But everywhere there is a feeling of slight disappointment. Expectations are simply high around a book adaptation by McEwan and ‘On Chesil Beach’ cannot live up to this one.