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RATING:   
For a girl who lived above her mother’s grocery store, Angel Deverell (Romola Garai) dreamt big. Success, recognition, love and fame were just some of the stars in the sky that Angel reached out for.
To make up for what she could not get in reality, Angel lived in her own sphere of dreams, later penning the perpetual fairy-tales in a book.
With the help of publisher Theo (Sam Neil), she eventually turns into a successful romance novelist. The constant conflict of reality and imagination hints at impending tragic consequences which is what draws in the audience.
This is a story set in Edwardian England, but is yet very modern.
The main character, Angel, for instance is a young woman who has an impressive independent spirit. She buys her own mansion which she labelled as the ‘Paradise House’, controlled her career and the icing of the cake – proposed to the man of her dreams (which many modern girls, myself included, wouldn't have the courage to do).
Expect unrequited love, infidelity and undertones of homosexuality in this movie by French director Francois Ozon who does not focus on the uber sweetness of a typical love story.
It was rather interesting to see that while the characters seem cheery on a superficial level, Ozon brought to the movie the different facets of love, and in the process highlighted its darkness.
Ozon also didn't fail to add complexity in the characters.
So there evolves a love-hate relationship between the audience and Angel, because while her innocence is adorable, some of her characteristics get on your nerves - like her self-centred approach of getting what she wants and not sparing a thought for anyone or anything else. This comes across when her mother was seriously ill. Knowing full well, we find Angel procrastinating being by her mother's side and spending her time instead chasing after her knight in not-so-shining armour, Esme (Michael Fassbender), a struggling painter, who unfortunately, only married her for the monetary comfort.
At the same time, it appears that while Angel seemed absolutely in love with the charismatic Esme, she was more in love with the idea of love as she fulfilled the role as the female lead in her own fairy-tales.
So sex seems a chore, hence her bored expression during bedroom encounters while she flirts with homosexuality, typical of Ozon’s movies, with expressions of admiration for acquaintance-cum-secretary Nora (Lucy Russell).
Romola Garai’s stellar performance added some punch to the otherwise draggy movie. Whether it was the doe-eyed ambitious young woman hungry for the limelight or the melancholic forlorn lover, one was drawn in to the character brought to life by this promising young actress.
Fassbender’s performance paled in comparison. A rather forgettable character, it would have been more refreshing if Ozon’s first choice, Oliver Martinez, had starred in the male lead – judging from his performance in Adrian Lyne’s ‘Unfaithful’.
The movie was also marred by the cheap production. More often than not, characters were seen transported in a carriage against artificial backgrounds - surely, Ozon’s first full English-language project could've done with more investment in the set with fewer days spent shooting the many unnecessary scenes that only made the audience grow impatient to know the predictable end.
While I can’t deny that I appreciated the depth of the movie’s plot and the exploration of the various characters, the movie had me walking out of the cinema wishing aloud for a different ending, especially since the movie had been painstakingly long! - CNA/vm
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