Effie Gray (2014)

A look at the scandalous love triangle between Victorian art critic John Ruskin, his teenage bride Effie Gray, and Pre-Raphaelite painter John Everett Millais.

Director:

Richard Laxton

Writer:

Emma Thompson

Stars:

Dakota Fanning, Greg Wise, Tom Sturridge

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dakota Fanning	...	Effie Gray
Polly Dartford	...	Sophie Gray
Greg Wise	...	John Ruskin
Tom Sturridge	...	John Everett Millais
Tom Herriott	...	William Holman Hunt
Sam Churchill	...	Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Martin Keatman	...	Thomas Woolner
Chris Haggart	...	William Michael Rossetti
Alex Best	...	James Collinson
George Laing	...	Frederic Stephens
Patrick Doyle	...	Wedding Minister
Peter Farr	...	Mr. Gray (Effie's Father)
Nicola Draffan	...	Mrs. Gray (Effie's Mother)
Tutu Jereissati	...	Flower Girl
Russell Tovey	...	George

Storyline

Based on the real-life scandal that shocked Victorian-era England, the film tells the story of Euphemia "Effie" Gray. At 19, she married the prominent art historian and critic John Ruskin, but Ruskin refused to consummate their marriage. Lonely and frustrated Effie is drawn to pre-Raphaelite painter John Everett Millais, and finds a friend and champion in Lady Elizabeth Eastlake. After five years trapped in a loveless marriage, Effie will defy the rules of Victorian society...

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Plot Keywords:

f rated | victorian era | love triangle | 

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for thematic and sexual content, and some nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Metrodome Distribution [United Kingdom] Official site

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 October 2014 (UK)

Also Known As:

Effie

Filming Locations:

West Wycombe House, West Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$108,254 (United Kingdom), 10 October 2014, Limited Release

Opening Weekend USA:

$161,728, 5 April 2015

Gross USA:

$343,257, 19 April 2015

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sovereign Films (II)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Linda Bassett and Julie Walters acted together in Calendar Girls (2003).

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Goofs

The movie poster shows Fanning as Effie superimposed over Millais's painting "Ophelia," implying that Effie was the model. She wasn't; Elizabeth (Lizzie) Siddal was the model for Ophelia. (Lizzie was Gabriel Rossetti's wife and their story is as scandalous as the Ruskins'.)

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Quotes

[first lines]
Sophie Gray: [narrating] Once, a beautiful young girl lived in a very cold house in Scotland. The house was cold because someone's grandfather killed himself there. One day, the grandson came to visit the house. He thought the beautiful girl was an angel came down to Earth. The grandson worked very hard. He read and thought and drew and wrote. He wrote a fairy story just for her. She was twelve years old. His mother and father were kind, but his were wicked. When she grew up, he married her.

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Connections

Featured in Effie Gray: Interview with Emma Thompson (2014)

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Soundtracks

The Farmer's Servant
Performed by A.L. Lloyd
from the album "English Drinking Songs"
courtesy of Riverside Records

User Reviews

A very good film.

This is a film treated with the delicacy that the real circumstances must have required. Effie Gray, based on the true story of a teenager who marries John Ruskin (grown man and well-known author), comes to realize that she and her husband have varying expectations of marriage. She slowly begins to fade away as she makes all appearances of following the rules of her new, married life.

The movie is well-paced, quiet, and stylistically appropriate. Dakota Fanning does a wonderful job of portraying Effie's quiet despair, and you do forget that she is an American actor (her accent is good). Derek Jacobi makes a guest turn, towards the end, and, It's always a pleasure to see Emma Thompson in anything, let alone in a vehicle for a screenplay that she has written.

Well worth seeing.