No. 3. (2021) AMMONITE January 9th.

 

Film No. 3 (2021)  January 9th.  11:00 AM.  Cinema 1  LUNA Leederville.

"I would pay a premium for a private audience".(Gentleman Roderick Murchison makes an offer to Anning to accept his wife Charlotte as her underling for five, six or even seven weeks).

Mary Anning was indeed a world renowned fossil collector who lived in Lyme Regis during the 1800's. She died before her time of breast cancer in 1847 aged 48. Her finds, mainly of Jurassic fossils, are legendary. Many of her finds are displayed in museums world wide. She did meet Charlotte Murchison, a woman of the landed gentry in Dorset in the 1820's and they struck up a close friendship. These are the facts. 

Writer/director Francis Lee (God's Own Country) has created a controversial view that Mary and Charlotte were lovers. Lee's Ammonite pulls no punches when it comes to the intimacy this relationship. Kate Winslet (Anning) and Saoirse Ronan (Murchison) create two scenes which have made for some uncomfortable viewing for the more prudish cinema goer. The scenes are a legitimate consummation of a touching relationship between our leads. The effectiveness of this original story for the screen is found in the quiet manner in which these two lonely characters find respect, then love for one another.

The re-creation of 1800's Lyme Regis gives the story a dark, wind swept palate to light this fire of love. Winslet and Ronan star in their thick layers of costume. The one dimensional story does however take 124 minutes to unfold, this will test the patience of some punters. If you are a student of paleontology and your view of Anning is (as many of her family attest) that she was not gay, then perhaps Ammonite will disappoint. I enjoyed Ammonite as a quality costume drama which for two air conditioned hours, took my mind off the Perth summer (41C) outside. 9GUMS.