Carrington

Carrington is the true story of the peculiar love affair between two nonconformists in Victorian England: painter Dora Carrington (Emma Thompson) and author Lytton Strachey (Jonathan Pryce). Dora is a young English artist who is part of the Bloomsbury Group, an assemblage of British writers, painters, and eccentrics that includes the likes of Virginia Woolf and E.M. Forster, when she meets Strachey. A confirmed homosexual before meeting Carrington, Strachey inquires who the "ravishing boy" is and discovers that it's a woman. Shocked to discover this, he finds himself captivated by her, and they begin an unusual 17-year love affair/friendship. Strachey (most famous for the groundbreaking book Eminent Victorians) and Dora eventually move in together and have a series of offbeat sexual experiences with other members of the group and sometimes even with the same man; at one juncture, Dora even marries another man. Yet their relationship endures until Strachey's death years later. Pryce was honored as Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival for his performance.

-- Don Kaye

AMG REVIEW:
The directorial debut of writer Christopher Hamilton, Carrington attempts to explain the all-consuming question of love and its many forms. Previously known for such spectacular screenplays as Dangerous Liasons, Hamilton chooses to divide the film into six chapters, each named after the superfluous men that drift into and out of Carrington's life; the technique is an engaging way to show the one unflinching source of love in Carrington's life, Strachton. Hamilton's engaging camerawork and lush sets bring to life the artistic and emotional union of his two eccentric leads. He takes care to linger long enough on images that reveal his characters' emotions in full, and never cuts a scene too short. Carrington is a film about the importance and joy of love, in whatever form it may take.

-- Laura Abraham

AWARDS:
Best Actor (win) Jonathan Price - 1995 Cannes International Film Festival
Special Jury Prize (win) - 1995 Cannes International Film Festival