The Spanish Prisoner

A Quiet Passion, written and directed by Terence Davies, tells the story of the life of the poet, Emily Dickinson (played by Cynthia Nixon). It follows her from her early years through to her death from Bright’s disease at the age of 56. It combines scenes from her life with voice-overs of her poetry. It is a subtle and understated film, but ultimately emotionally powerful.

One of the things I found interesting about this film is that it subtly implied that Americans became less religious and more secular after the Civil War. The first half of the film is filled with talk about religion, yet it’s barely mentioned in the second half. When, for example, Emily criticizes her brother for cheating on his wife, she does so in non-religious terms.

A Quiet Passion is a great work of art.

This entry was posted on May 24, 2017 at 10:08 am and is filed under Cinema, New England, Nineteenth Century America. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.