A Quiet Passion

Name: A Quiet Passion
Genre: Biography, Drama
Released: April 14, 2017
Duration: 125 min
Rating: 77

2017

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Generally favorable reviews based on 30 Critics

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 38 Ratings

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6.3

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6.3	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 38 Ratings

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A Quiet Passion

Movie Details & Credits

Music Box Films | Release Date: April 14, 2017

Summary: The story of American poet Emily Dickinson from her early days as a young schoolgirl to her later years as a reclusive, unrecognized artist.

Director: Terence Davies

Genre(s): Biography, Drama

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 125 min

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Critic Reviews

100

Los Angeles Times - Justin Chang

Apr 20, 2017

The stately rhythms of the dialogue — drawn out by the particulars of Davies’ blocking, framing and editing — become a kind of music. The effect is bewildering at first, then absorbing, then transfixing. Its purpose, in line with the loftiest ideals of poetry itself, is to clear the mind and stir the soul. Read full review

100

Time Out London - Dave Calhoun

Apr 3, 2017

The talk is pointed and careful in a household that savours the power and meaning of words, but it’s as much the imagery that makes this film such a painterly joy. Read full review

The A.V. Club - A.A. Dowd

Apr 12, 2017

What’s surprising about A Quiet Passion, given the writer-director’s own incurable melancholy, is how lively, how flat-out funny, it frequently is. The film sometimes flirts, even, with becoming a full-on comedy of manners, at least before characters start keeling over and breathing their last breaths. Read full review

The Guardian - Andrew Pulver

Feb 24, 2016

It is Davies’ ability to invest even the most apparently-humdrum moments with some form of intense radiance that sustains his film. Read full review

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) - Nathalie Atkinson

Apr 13, 2017

Sharp drawing-room repartee interrogates the same decorum and morality as her poems, although the frequently epigrammatic dialogue is mannered, even for a period film. Read full review

Austin Chronicle - Kimberley Jones

May 3, 2017

A Quiet Passion’s manneredness overwhelmed me at times, but it is very effective – chilling, even – in its charting of one woman’s disappointed journey to the rhetorical coda of her own life: “Why has the world become so ugly?” Read full review

Variety - Guy Lodge

Feb 24, 2016

[Davies'] most mannered and least fulfilling work to date, A Quiet Passion boasts meticulous craft and ornate verbiage in abundance, but confines Cynthia Nixon’s melancholia-stricken performance as arguably America’s greatest poet in an emotional straitjacket of variously arch storytelling tones. Read full review

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User Reviews

Proser

May 21, 2017

This is not a movie for everyone. It is not a piece of entertainment. It is not a piece of consolation. But it is an honest assessment of the life of one of our greatest poets. It is beautifully made, photographed, and brilliantly acted and directed. Yes, there is too much Wildian aphoristicThis is not a movie for everyone. It is not a piece of entertainment. It is not a piece of consolation. But it is an honest assessment of the life of one of our greatest poets. It is beautifully made, photographed, and brilliantly acted and directed. Yes, there is too much Wildian aphoristic repartee. Yes, it is unsparing; but it is also compassionate, feeling, and true. So if beauty is truth, and you are looking for both, this is your film. But if you don't like whole sentences, and long for flaming action, and don't want an uncensored vision of what life is, or what a life can be, stay away.… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

binaryg

May 7, 2017

Finally a film which gives Emily Dickinson her due. I've read reviews which complain that there are inaccuracies in the telling here but I've read several biographies and books about her poetry and I've read all 1,700 + poems and there are more unknowns about her life and work than knowns.Finally a film which gives Emily Dickinson her due. I've read reviews which complain that there are inaccuracies in the telling here but I've read several biographies and books about her poetry and I've read all 1,700 + poems and there are more unknowns about her life and work than knowns. The film is beautifully shot and all of the actors, (especially Cynthia Nixon) are incredible. This one I will own as soon as it is released as a DVD. See it in the theater if it is possible.… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

GinaK

May 8, 2017

A riveting film that succeeds brilliantly in recreating the life and times of Emily Dickinson and her family – and linking it to her poetry. While creating a film that is both very witty and incredibly sad, the director elaborates on what we know of Dickinson’s life and we feel as if we areA riveting film that succeeds brilliantly in recreating the life and times of Emily Dickinson and her family – and linking it to her poetry. While creating a film that is both very witty and incredibly sad, the director elaborates on what we know of Dickinson’s life and we feel as if we are living with her family and friends, partly through fact and partly through surmise. Although most of the film takes place in the Dickinson family home, the actors create a larger world (that includes the Civil War) and are totally convincing. If you love Dickinson’s poetry as I do, this is a “must see” film. Cynthia Nixon is astonishing.… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

LaTijera

Jan 1, 2018

Plays stiff and stuffy like an old black and white, almost as if it was shot to be some theater caricature. Review urbanmagic's zero score is a tad too low though; has a few decent moments but those often seem incongruous to neighboring scenes and even some characters within the very scene,Plays stiff and stuffy like an old black and white, almost as if it was shot to be some theater caricature. Review urbanmagic's zero score is a tad too low though; has a few decent moments but those often seem incongruous to neighboring scenes and even some characters within the very scene, as if they were cast into in completely different genres.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

TVJerry

May 24, 2017

Let me start by stating that I'm not a poetry fan (unless it's a naughty limerick), but even if I were a fierce devotee, this dreary biopic would have faded my fervor forever. It follows poet Emily Dickinson (Cynthia Nixon) from her early years to her final reclusive, pain-racked days. ThisLet me start by stating that I'm not a poetry fan (unless it's a naughty limerick), but even if I were a fierce devotee, this dreary biopic would have faded my fervor forever. It follows poet Emily Dickinson (Cynthia Nixon) from her early years to her final reclusive, pain-racked days. This film is over 2 hours, but without the interminable pauses between EVERY line, it would run less than an hour. The pacing is dreadful, the stilted language borders on pretentious and the endless misery isn't mitigated by the occasional readings of her poems. There are some attractive costumes and the stark gentility of the period is interesting, but the incredible tedium that pervades the pacing drains any hope of redemption. The best thing about the movie is the clever way they morphed the family members from their teen versions to the adult actors.… Expand

1 of 4 users found this helpful13

everett

May 16, 2017

I was astonished that a script like this, where the dialogue is mostly an exchange of platitudes, would get made. The characters are mostly caricatures. Other than one young woman who's so unbearably smug she deserves a category of her own, we have the stilted, on the one hand, and theI was astonished that a script like this, where the dialogue is mostly an exchange of platitudes, would get made. The characters are mostly caricatures. Other than one young woman who's so unbearably smug she deserves a category of her own, we have the stilted, on the one hand, and the pretentious, on the other, including Emily herself. Having a voiceover of her reading her poetry only added to the preciousness of this film; and the absence of a score adds to an airless, claustrophobic atmosphere that might have been deliberate, in order to demonstrate the repression of the times, but in the end deprived all of them - with one possible exception, the Jennifer Ehle sister - of their humanity. I can't understand the high critical rating. Instead of bringing poetry to life, it suffocates it, which is a real loss, considering the power of the work of this poet who managed to achieve a status as a writer rarely given to women of her time - or ours. Cynthia Nixon tries; if anyone could pull this off, it would be her. But not as written and directed. I can't imagine such a talented cast signing on to something like this. The movie is worse than a missed opportunity to introduce people to poetry; it's one that confirms why so many people hate it.… Expand

2 of 4 users found this helpful22

urbanmagic

Apr 30, 2017

Here is an example of why not to trust critics. This movie is awful. The wonderful Cynthia Nixon and Jennifer Ehle must suffer through some of the most stilted and pretentious writing and directing I have seen in years. It would be fascinating to actually see an informed and intelligentHere is an example of why not to trust critics. This movie is awful. The wonderful Cynthia Nixon and Jennifer Ehle must suffer through some of the most stilted and pretentious writing and directing I have seen in years. It would be fascinating to actually see an informed and intelligent rendering of the life and work of this amazing poet, but you certainly will not find it here. Much of the most vibrant and complex parts of the poet's life are completely left out of the story, and it renders her a self absorbed and miserable prig, which she most certainly was not. It also portrays 19th century life in the most simple minded way. The characters don't so much speak to one another as take turns pontificating in a way no actual human being ever has. If you are tempted to see this terrible movie, I urge you instead, to head to the closest independent book store and buy a volume of Emily Dickinson's poems and letters. They are wonderful and full of a kind of beauty and emotional intelligence that is completely missing in A QUIET PASSION.… Expand

5 of 7 users found this helpful52

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