Daphne Du Maurier's work in no stranger to big screen adaptations. Alfred Hitchcock brought Rebecca and The Birds to the screen, immortalising them in cinema as well as their initial novel format. Now in 2017 Roger Mitchell, director of Notting Hill, brings us another adaptation of Du Maurier's My Cousin Rachel. The film tells the story of Philip, the young heir to his guardian's land who blames his guardian's widow Rachel for his demise. Phillip plots his revenge but upon meeting her his feelings begin to change, and he becomes almost possessed by her beauty. My Cousin Rachel doesn't break any new ground in the period drama genre, but it's acting performance and psychological elements save this film from total blandness.
As mentioned, the acting from My Cousin Rachel's key cast is solid. Sam Claflin nails the naive schoolboy character of Philip, presenting a keenness and innocence of someone his age. Phillip after all is a young boy having his first encounter and relationship with a woman, and thus Claflin portrays Phillip as such. Iain Glen is also good as Nick Kendall, Philip's trusted adviser and shareholder until Philip becomes of age to claim his property. The stand out performance of this film is by far of the title character. Rachel Weisz plays Rachel Ashley with such ambiguity and strength it makes her utterly compelling. She is the life of the party while later crying her eyes out, showing her acting range perfectly and nailing every second she is on screen. It is in no small part that the success of this film is down to her engaging and entertaining portrayal of the films title character.
The films first half is purely setting the scene and character development. This is natural for some period piece films to do, however My Cousin Rachel doesn't do this at a good pace. The film opens and within 5-10 minutes we know all we need of the story, and we patiently wait another 10 minutes for Rachel to be introduced, and then another 60-70 minutes for anything to really happen. The film takes its time to develop character and I understand and accept that, but the film does very little with that time it has and not a lot more is gained from this extended period of time. The film is extremely slow moving and feels about 30 minutes longer than it actually is, and this is down to the films poor use of time.
This isn't helped by the predictable nature of the majority of the films run time (I haven't read the book, nor knew the story before hand). The films synopsis sums up about 90 minutes of the films 106 minute run time to a tee and thus you end up waiting for what feels like 2 hours for the characters to discover what you already know. This again isn't helped as the film seemed to go to the A Cure For Wellness school of "less than subtly forcing a drink onto the protagonist to no end" thus making later revelations pathetic. The film is largely eventless and predictable, however the films final act saves the film.
Normally the final act of the film will resolve all unanswered questions and leave the audience satisfied, however this is thankfully not the case with My Cousin Rachel. The most compelling aspect of this whole film is by far the psychological thriller aspect and ambiguity surrounding the character Rachel. Is she a psychopathic murdering gold digger, or is she just a genuinely nice person? The film doesn't answer this question and instead leaves the character and her many enigmas unanswered. I was not expecting this, bearing in mind I had no prior knowledge of the book. I do understand however this is more down to the book itself than the filmmakers, but I am grateful they didn't adapt this bit differently to which they possibly could have. So either way, the films final act saves My Cousin Rachel from full scale predictability and so I appreciate the restraint needed for this to happen. I must also add my admiration for the films final shot, as it lingers and for that, I believe could provoke an interesting discussion and possibly opens a door to rewatching from a different perspective, that of Louise Kendall. It's the enigma codes that hold My Cousin Rachel together and, to me, the final shot added another enigma.
My Cousin Rachel is a real slow burn period drama that doesn't make very good use of its time, but fortunately features such a compelling performance and character in Rachel, as well as, a psychological element to the film which makes it so much more enjoyable. Ah Rachel, my Torment.
As mentioned, the acting from My Cousin Rachel's key cast is solid. Sam Claflin nails the naive schoolboy character of Philip, presenting a keenness and innocence of someone his age. Phillip after all is a young boy having his first encounter and relationship with a woman, and thus Claflin portrays Phillip as such. Iain Glen is also good as Nick Kendall, Philip's trusted adviser and shareholder until Philip becomes of age to claim his property. The stand out performance of this film is by far of the title character. Rachel Weisz plays Rachel Ashley with such ambiguity and strength it makes her utterly compelling. She is the life of the party while later crying her eyes out, showing her acting range perfectly and nailing every second she is on screen. It is in no small part that the success of this film is down to her engaging and entertaining portrayal of the films title character.
The films first half is purely setting the scene and character development. This is natural for some period piece films to do, however My Cousin Rachel doesn't do this at a good pace. The film opens and within 5-10 minutes we know all we need of the story, and we patiently wait another 10 minutes for Rachel to be introduced, and then another 60-70 minutes for anything to really happen. The film takes its time to develop character and I understand and accept that, but the film does very little with that time it has and not a lot more is gained from this extended period of time. The film is extremely slow moving and feels about 30 minutes longer than it actually is, and this is down to the films poor use of time.
This isn't helped by the predictable nature of the majority of the films run time (I haven't read the book, nor knew the story before hand). The films synopsis sums up about 90 minutes of the films 106 minute run time to a tee and thus you end up waiting for what feels like 2 hours for the characters to discover what you already know. This again isn't helped as the film seemed to go to the A Cure For Wellness school of "less than subtly forcing a drink onto the protagonist to no end" thus making later revelations pathetic. The film is largely eventless and predictable, however the films final act saves the film.
Normally the final act of the film will resolve all unanswered questions and leave the audience satisfied, however this is thankfully not the case with My Cousin Rachel. The most compelling aspect of this whole film is by far the psychological thriller aspect and ambiguity surrounding the character Rachel. Is she a psychopathic murdering gold digger, or is she just a genuinely nice person? The film doesn't answer this question and instead leaves the character and her many enigmas unanswered. I was not expecting this, bearing in mind I had no prior knowledge of the book. I do understand however this is more down to the book itself than the filmmakers, but I am grateful they didn't adapt this bit differently to which they possibly could have. So either way, the films final act saves My Cousin Rachel from full scale predictability and so I appreciate the restraint needed for this to happen. I must also add my admiration for the films final shot, as it lingers and for that, I believe could provoke an interesting discussion and possibly opens a door to rewatching from a different perspective, that of Louise Kendall. It's the enigma codes that hold My Cousin Rachel together and, to me, the final shot added another enigma.
My Cousin Rachel is a real slow burn period drama that doesn't make very good use of its time, but fortunately features such a compelling performance and character in Rachel, as well as, a psychological element to the film which makes it so much more enjoyable. Ah Rachel, my Torment.