The Invisible Woman

http://www.sonyclassics.com/theinvisiblewoman/

No preamble on this one folks, I'm going to get straight to the nitty gritty.

Ellen (Jones), or Nelly to her friends and family, and her mother and sister, travel to Manchester to perform in a play being directed by Charles Dickens (Fiennes). Nelly is only 17 and hopes to one day follow her mother and two other sisters into acting, this being her first performance. Charles sees something extraordinary in Nelly where others do not. He encourages her pursuits and the two of them become close, something Charles would like to take further once Nelly has turned 18. However, Mr Dickens has a wife and children at home, making it impossible for him to make an honest woman of Nelly. Will their love for one-another prove more powerful than the Dickens' marriage vows?

I must say that I am somewhat puzzled by the name of the film, as the trailer certainly implies that Nelly is the invisible woman of the title. In my eyes she is anything but invisible, in fact she is probably the one person that Charles sees the clearest, and really it is his wife who becomes the invisible woman. And it is in those scenes that Joanna Scanlan (who plays Catherine Dickens) absolutely shines. 

There is one scene in particular after Catherine becomes aware of Nelly's involvement with Charles, which is actually prior to anything happening between them. Catherine goes to see Nelly on her 18th birthday and you immediately get the most uneasy feeling that a horrendous scene is about to take place. You can't help but feel that Catherine has timed her visit in order to ruin Nelly's birthday, and that she is going to warn her off her husband, but what follows is much more heartbreaking, and I certainly won't spoil that for anyone looking to see the film. 

Having explained all that, I will also say that I have never seen a more delicate and considered performance from Felicity Jones. She is worthy of all the praise being heaped on her for this movie because she really puts her heart and soul into every scene. Seeming innocent and naive in the early scenes and yet so worldly wise and strong in the latter ones. My only nitpick here would be that they didn't age her enough for the later scenes, so it seems rather hard to grasp that she is THAT much older. My guess is that she should be at least 10 years older in the later scenes and she just doesn't look it. 

It's a small gripe with a truly wonderful film. Ralph Fiennes also puts in a solid double performance, acting as lead actor and director for the second time. His film feels perfectly at home amongst other recent period pieces and his cast of strong and ballsy women do him a great deed by all outshining him somewhat. The fact that he puts in a rather reserved performance and lets them shine, I think speaks volumes about his character, and as such, he has gone up a great deal in my estimations.

The Invisible Woman was only showing at my local independent cinema, if it's at one near you I urge you to catch it. 8.5 out of 10.

Viewing Date - 9th March 2014

UK Release Date - 21st February 2014

Cast Overview:

Charles Dickens ~ Ralph Fiennes

Nelly Ternan ~ Felicity Jones

Catherine Ternan ~ Kristin Scott Thomas

Wilkie Collins ~ Tom Hollander

Catherine Dickens ~ Joanna Scanlan

Caroline Graves ~ Michelle Fairley

Mr Arnott ~ Jonathan Harden

George Wharton Robinson ~ Tom Burke

Maria Ternan ~ Perdita Weeks

Reverend Benham ~ John Kavanagh

Director ~ Ralph Fiennes

Writer(s) ~ Abi Morgan (Screenplay) and Claire Tomalin (Book)