The Shipping News
Directed by Lasse Hallström.
Starring Kevin Spacey, Judi Dench, Julianne Moore, Cate Blanchett.
Quoyle (Spacey) is a timid and passive man, raised from childhood with the assumption that he is stupid and incompetent. The death of his wild and uncaring wife coincides with a visit from his never-before-seen Aunt Agnes (Dench). She is about to return to the family’s original home in Newfoundland and persuades Quoyle, emotionally shattered and hopeless, to take up his young daughter and come with her. He gradually discovers that the isolation and idiosyncrasies of his ancestral home conceal shame, grief and vengefulness, both personal and historic.
Hallström’s previous efforts include the sentimental melodramas Chocolat and Cider House Rules. The Shipping News also has some sentimental emotionalism but this is offset by its realistic (if affectedly eccentric) characters and the visual impact of the wonderfully bleak Newfoundland landscape. I haven’t read the original novel (by Annie Proulx) but those who have seem satisfied with the adaptation and tell me that the film follows it fairly closely. The story has many threads and subplots that I can easily imagine a full-length novel weaving together intriguingly. This is, however, my main criticism as the disparate components are not well arranged; the film is uneven both in its pacing and distribution of content (the adaptation problem strikes again, viz. LOTR etc). One thread will dominate for a while (say, Aunt Agnes’s past), then another one (the tragic enigma of Julianne Moore) and so on (Quoyle’s family’s haunted past; office politics with the always entertaining Pete Postlethwaite; Quoyle’s daughter etc). When an earlier item re-emerges you’ve almost forgotten about it. However, the story is involving, the characters are engaging and the performances are excellent, especially Judi Dench, and Cate Blanchett in a blazing (if unnecessary) cameo.
Guy Olding
