SummaryMaudie, based on a true story, is an unlikely romance in which the reclusive Everett Lewis (Ethan Hawke) hires a fragile yet determined woman named Maudie (Sally Hawkins) to be his housekeeper. Maudie, bright-eyed but hunched with crippled hands, yearns to be independent, to live away from her protective family and she also yearns, passi...
SummaryMaudie, based on a true story, is an unlikely romance in which the reclusive Everett Lewis (Ethan Hawke) hires a fragile yet determined woman named Maudie (Sally Hawkins) to be his housekeeper. Maudie, bright-eyed but hunched with crippled hands, yearns to be independent, to live away from her protective family and she also yearns, passi...
The story offers many opportunities for glibness and sentimentality. Walsh falls for none of them. She enhances the grimness of Lewis’s surroundings, but does not exploit it.
This is a remarkably assured movie, through and through. Walsh and cinematographer Guy Godfree have taken care to make every individual shot a thing of beauty. But the artfulness always acts in service of the emotions, which in the end become both inspiring and heartbreaking.
This movie was so engaging from start to finish. I really cared about the people and I can't always say that. Both my husband and I thought this was such a good movie!
It's sweet, it's adorable, it's bright, and most of all, it's inspirational. This film respects the life of famed Nova Scotian folk (visual) artist, Maud Lewis, through beautifully shot cinematography, tight acting (with Sally Hawkins doing a wonderful job portraying the late artist), and an ending that wraps everything together to deliver a powerful punch to my raw, emotional nerves that left me crying in both joy and sadness. It's this extra care in storytelling that elevates "Maudie" from a very good film to a stupendous film. For anyone who is pursuing in the arts (not just visual arts), this is a must-see film because it shows how any artist can use any object at their disposal to create meaningful works of human expressionism. No matter how dark the world around you may seem, the little things are more precious than the glamourous things. Never forget that moral my good reader(s).
Hawkins — small and mighty as usual — draws her energy from the quiet courage in Maud’s drive to create, to modify and adorn her bleak world with the images that express the contentment she knew as a child.
It’s a real shame that Walsh decides to concentrate a big chunk of her movie on the stilted love affair between Everett and Maud, in a relationship that starts aggressively intriguing, but becomes the definition of saccharine by its climax.
Frankly, we are left with nothing, except with a movie that insists that we love it — or worse, assumes we will — because its subject is so worthy. Even on that score, that of convincing us of the worthiness of its subject, Maudie falls down.
Based on a true story. The interesting thing is how the plot and the characters reach the viewer without cheap sentimentality, and that the nearly two hours of duration move like water between the fingers. If you are sensitive enough, have a handkerchief handy.
A lot of people will find this movie too "slow". It's not just an interesting story but contains one of the all time great performances by an actress. This movie is well worth it just for Sally Hawkins! She is at the very highest level of her profession and there's only a couple actors at that tier. None of the "big name" stars would ever be capable of this kind of role.
On the edge of society, colours from brush strokes shined!
What is this film! Totally unheard! It's here now, so I watched it like I do for any film. But was not expecting anything. That was my advantage. It's a biopic, about an artist, not a famous one like medieval European painters. But a well known in her native. So now the world to know about her through this flick. That's what I love about films. Sometimes it's not about the famous people, but somewhere in a small place who quietly succeeded that inspires millions if they learn about that. So the films and books do that job well.
An Irish-Canadian co production. I think it has a real shot at the Oscars. Definitely for Sally Hawkins. In my opinion, she has already won that award, despite there are other good performances in this year. But if they snub this film, then as I consider like usual, the Oscars is pointless. Coming to the title, it should have been 'Maud'. Because nobody uses that word in the film. Anyway, 'Mudie' makes a good sound to pronounce, similar to Charlie, instead of Charles (Chaplin).
For now, this is an under-noticed film. As always, one of the reasons is, it's not an American or a British film. Then not made by a commercially well known filmmaker and cast. But this film never meant for commercial gain. It just tells the truth. A true story of an artist who lived not only on the edge of the society, humanity as well. Because when I saw this film, I could not tell the tale from what period. My guess was the late 19th century, then surprised as the story progressed to learn the real timeline. That tells she lived a life of at least a century ago of her time.
-xX] Some people don't like it if you are different. [Xx-
Not a story of a high society woman. This kind of people can be found in every corner of the earth. They are somewhat discarded in the society for being different. But they too wants a normal life like everybody else. In such instance, this story happens. Maud is an orphan living with her aunt, after her brother ditched her. With no social skills, her future is not so bright. But it all changes one day when she decides to become a live-in maid to a grumpy fish seller.
Initially, they find it not workable, then as the time goes by, they find each other. Following that, recognition of her paintings in the local community and spreading across, she sees some success in an unexpected path. But that's not the end of the tale. Seems happily ever after is so distant to them. A twist brings another unexpected derive in the narration. The heart rendering side of the story. From there how the remaining film would shape up before the conclusion were told.
Seems everything was perfect for this film. Nice casting. I think that's the best thing happened for this. Both Sally and Ethan were amazing. Like Sally, Ethan too deserves an Oscars for his so perfect supporting role. As for the director, I think it will remain one of her best work, despite she could do good films like this in the future. This is one of the great films about the artists. Very inspiring, as well as a tearjerker, if you are a soft hearted.
Low cost film, but well shot. I loved the locations. Then the dialogues. So simple and convincing. This is this year's 'Mr. Turner'. A must see film for grown ups. It got nominated for several categories in the Canadian top film awards and expected to win most of them. I hope in the coming days, it gets its due, I mean the wide recognition. Highly recommended by my side! One of my favourite biopics!
9/10
Maude Lewis was a primitive painter in '50s Nova Scotia. Sally Hawkins beautifully captures her character, who was "born funny" (her words for rheumatoid arthritis), while Ethan Hawke is quietly grim as the reclusive man who hires her as a housekeeper. Both of their performances are warm and award-worthy. Aisling Walsh's direction quietly captures the challenges and frustrations that this duo faces with touching, sometimes frustrating sensitivity. The cinematography makes the engaging story even more beautiful. I'm not usually a fan of primitive art, but Maudie's work appealed to me, as did this sweetly told biography.
a misconceived act..
Maudie Maudie is a character driven biographical drama about an arthritic artist who pursues her passion for painting. The narration isn't articulative at all, it is of dependent nature, and the actual journey in here is to seek what was it supposed to depend upon. The writing is blunt with bits and pieces scattered and inexpressive notions that raises question and nothing else. It respects the concept and the substance that it has to offer, but material is prior to mannerism. Without any concrete trajectory for the viewers to follow, the structure of such episodes ought to collapse before it even builds itself up. White's dull script is manipulative that expects the audience to connect with its poignancy and not merit. It falls flatly on face in technical aspects like daft background score, amateur cinematography, distracted camera work and poor editing. The banal ideology is profoundly loud which shucks away the somewhat invested heart in it. It aches you to encounter such an amazing performance to go waste by on such dull script. Hawkins is thoroughly convincing if not in her A game whilst Hawke seems distracted on his undercooked character. Walsh gets few of the sequences correctly but she still needs better polishing on her execution skills as it fails to bind the whole drama into any whatsoever emotion. The innocence that the concept fuels itself on and worthy performance by the cast are the only high points of this pretentious feature. The last act of the feature is a benign effort from the makers to manipulate the emotions out of the viewers. The euphoric energy that a passionate project usually consists wears out quickly before it can amp up the viewers. Maudie is a misconceived act whose misconception on the craft that goes behind a cinema backfires vigorously.
Production Company
Mongrel Media,
Téléfilm Canada,
Newfoundland and Labrador Film Development,
Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC),
The Harold Greenberg Fund,
Bord Scannán na hÉireann / The Irish Film Board,
Corner Piece Capital,
Citadel Films,
Rink Rat Productions,
Screen Door,
Parallel Film Productions