Tamara Drewe
Director: Stephen Frears.
Starring: Gemma Arterton, Dominic Cooper, Luke Evans, Tasmin Greig, Roger Allam.
United Kingdom, 2010.
111 mins. English
Beneath the rosy exterior of Frears' (THE QUEEN) Dorset-set film lurks a sombre assessment of Little England's middleclass mores, and the jealousy, boredom and bitterness that mark so much of our lives.
Tamara (Arterton) is a successful and beautiful columnist who moves in the gilded circles of London's media world.
But she was once the ugly duckling of her Dorset village and has spent many years trying to forget it.
Her return is a rude awakening for the townsfolk, and two men in particular.
Frears drives the tale with evident relish, at times evoking the subversive comedy of the Ealing crew; but scratch the surface, and below the tranquil fields and fertile orchards roll great undercurrents of passion, betrayal and desperation.
Arterton, here padding out her blockbuster credentials with some real work, is effervescent as a character for whom there is more at stake than first meets the eye. But there is a lingering sense that Tamara is never her own creature - indeed, there is something almost anti-feminist about the way she is defined by the men in her life. So too the scene in which Beth’s tragic stoicism is undermined by Andy’s declaration that the poor woman “needs a man!” Is this the director’s male gaze brought to bear, or is it there in the original strip from Guardian cartoonist Posy Simmonds? The rest of the cast are excellent, not least Greig, whose quiet strength acts as a noble rebuke to her husband’s noisy charm.
TAMARA DREWE is an intimate film, but by no means a small one, rooted in small-town anomie but vital and sexy. Don’t be fooled by its intoxicating gleam – there is something iron hard beneath.
Tamara (Arterton) is a successful and beautiful columnist who moves in the gilded circles of London's media world.
But she was once the ugly duckling of her Dorset village and has spent many years trying to forget it.
Her return is a rude awakening for the townsfolk, and two men in particular.
Frears drives the tale with evident relish, at times evoking the subversive comedy of the Ealing crew; but scratch the surface, and below the tranquil fields and fertile orchards roll great undercurrents of passion, betrayal and desperation.
Arterton, here padding out her blockbuster credentials with some real work, is effervescent as a character for whom there is more at stake than first meets the eye. But there is a lingering sense that Tamara is never her own creature - indeed, there is something almost anti-feminist about the way she is defined by the men in her life. So too the scene in which Beth’s tragic stoicism is undermined by Andy’s declaration that the poor woman “needs a man!” Is this the director’s male gaze brought to bear, or is it there in the original strip from Guardian cartoonist Posy Simmonds? The rest of the cast are excellent, not least Greig, whose quiet strength acts as a noble rebuke to her husband’s noisy charm.
TAMARA DREWE is an intimate film, but by no means a small one, rooted in small-town anomie but vital and sexy. Don’t be fooled by its intoxicating gleam – there is something iron hard beneath.
Screenings (select one to book tickets)
Thursday 16 September, 3:00PM
Reviews
Tamara Drewe by Festival Daily
23 Sep 2010
On the challenge of making film adaptations of literary works, director...
Read more
Reviews are currently closed for this film
