What looks at first like period drama, a steamy “Downton Abbey,” set in England in the wake of World War I, morphs into something deeper and more far-reaching, as MOTHERING SUNDAY follows the changing life of a young maid, tracing the awful legacy of that devastating war and the transformations it wrought, and also depicting a literary awakening and three stages in an artist’s life.
MOTHERING SUNDAY starts out in1924 at a British country manor house on Mother’s Day, known there as Mothering Sunday, when aristocrats traditionally gave their servants the day off to visit their mothers. Young Jane Fairchild (Odessa Young) was raised in an orphanage so she has no mother to visit. However, she has other, secret plans, to visit her lover, Paul (Josh O’Connor, the young Prince Charles on “The Crown”), the son of aristocrat friends of her employers, kindly Mr. Niven (Colin Firth) and stern, unsmiling Mrs. Niven (Olivia Colman), who are joining Paul’s parents to picnic on the banks of the Thames along with another aristocratic couple whose daughter, Emma Hobday (Emma D’Arcy), is engaged to Paul.
But Paul is going to show up late, claiming he’s studying, although he’s really meeting Jane , his longtime lover, at his home, for a rare chance for them to enjoy a comfortable real bed. We get scenes of the maid and young aristocrat cavorting joyfully, with full frontal nudity by both Odessa Young and Josh O’Connor.
After her lover Paul departs, young Jane wanders, sans clothing, around the deserted mansion, as the film flashes back and forth in time. Also inter-cut are scenes with the aristocratic families picnicking on the banks of the Thames, the party that Paul is going to join.
The nudity is one of the things that lingers in the mind with this drama, along with its unusual non-linear structure. Despite the film’s unusual structure, we are never lost or unclear about where or when we are, a tribute to director Eva Husson’s skill. The film also impresses with its rich visual beauty and the gem-like performances explore the lasting impact of the particularly devastating WWI.
The flashbacks show Jane earlier in her long romance with Paul, as well as going about her work at the Nivens’ mansion or in conversation with another maid, who lost her fiance to the war. It jumps forward in time to scenes of her working in a bookstore and with a philosopher played by Sope Dirisu, who became her husband, and then Jane late in life as a famous writer, played by the legendary Glenda Jackson. It is a life of loss and triumph, from humble beginnings.
The class divide dooms Jane and Paul’s romance while Paul’s engagement is a more “suitable” marriage for both young people. But it is a prospect less wanted by either of the engaged young people than their parents, the reasons for which are eventually revealed.
This story does not remain the steamy period romance it appears to be at first, although we sense a sadness underneath from the start. We first meet Jane as a young maid, who was born the out-of-wedlock daughter of a maid, raised in an orphanage, and working as a servant in an aristocratic house and having an affair with a young aristocrat. It is not a life with great promise but in shifting times, Jane’s life takes her far from the manor house, through a number of changes as she becomes the famous writer she will be.
Director Eva Husson’s film, using a script by Alice Birch, departs from the original story by Graham Swift but in doing so, the film expands its scope include the bigger shifts in British society at the time, as well as the remarkable life of this woman.
The film is flooded with a deep visual beauty, particularly in the earliest part, thanks to Jamie Ramsay’s fine photography. The tragedy of the war, and other losses that follow, shape Jane’s life indirectly but while there is plenty of personal heartbreak and loss in this tale along with its triumphs.
The film sports an impressive cast of British greats, although many of them get only brief screen time. Still, they each deliver gem-like performances. Olivia Colman plays Clarrie Niven, the dour wife of Colin Firth’s sweet Mr. Niven, who we may dislike until the reason for her grimness, and other unspoken tensions, are revealed at the picnic in a heartbreaking scene. Firth, O’Connor, and Emma D’Arcy, as Paul’s fiancee, also give searing, heart-rending performances, but a standout is Sope Dirisu, as the man who opens to door to Jane’s literary awakening and adds another tragic note. These fine performances, however brief, powerfully help depict the devastating legacy of the war and the other experiences, good and painful, that shape the protagonist’s life and career as a writer.
It is better not to describe too much of the story, which risks spoilers, but the changes in this young woman’s life reflect the changes in British society after WWI, particularly shifts in the class system and the expanding opportunities for women. That war nearly wiped out a generation of young men, leaving parents bereft but also a generation of young women with no young men to marry, women who then had to consider how to make their own way in life, and maybe seek more. None of this is expressed directly, but indirectly it is reflected in the life of the woman we meet as a young maid who becomes a famous author, a transformation nearly inconceivable in an earlier era.
This fine drama has many rewards, and not just its evocative visual beauty, with director Eva Husson’s skillful storytelling and fine performances by a cast of British greats. MOTHERING SUNDAY opens in theaters on Friday, Apr. 8.
RATING: 3.5 out of 4 stars
