On Chesil Beach (2017)

Based on Ian McEwan's novel. In 1962 England, a young couple find their idyllic romance colliding with issues of sexual freedom and societal pressure, leading to an awkward and fateful wedding night.

Director:

Dominic Cooke

Writers:

Ian McEwan (screenplay), Ian McEwan (novel)

Stars:

Billy Howle, Saoirse Ronan, Andy Burse

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Billy Howle	...	Edward Mayhew
Saoirse Ronan	...	Florence Ponting
Andy Burse	...	Waiter One
Rasmus Hardiker	...	Waiter Two
Anne-Marie Duff	...	Marjorie Mayhew
Adrian Scarborough	...	Lionel Mayhew
Mia Burgess	...	Harriet Mayhew
Anna Burgess	...	Anne Mayhew
Emily Watson	...	Violet Ponting
Bebe Cave	...	Ruth Ponting
Samuel West	...	Geoffrey Ponting
John Ramm	...	Postman Terry
Barney Iley	...	Timothy
Mark Donald	...	Charles
Imogen Daines	...	Jenny

Storyline

Adapted by Ian McEwan from his bestselling novel, the drama centers on a young couple of drastically different backgrounds in the summer of 1962. Following the pair through their idyllic courtship, this movie explores sex and the societal pressure that can accompany physical intimacy, leading to an awkward and fateful wedding night. This movie features Saoirse Ronan, Billy Howle, Anne-Marie Duff, Adrian Scarborough, Emily Watson, and Samuel West.

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Plot Keywords:

honeymoon | fear of intimacy | year 1962 | wedding night | chamber music | 

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Taglines:

This is how the entire course of a life can be changed: by doing nothing

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Genres:

Drama | Music | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some sexual content and nudity

Did You Know?

Trivia

This movie had its world premiere in the Special Presentations section at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 7, 2017.

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Goofs

In the tennis match between Edward and Florence's father (Geoffrey), they're either counting the games wrong or not alternating service properly. Edward begins serving at the start of the third set, so he should be serving when the game score is even. We immediately jump forward to a later game in which Geoffrey is serving. Geoffrey loses the game (for a change), and Edward announces the score as 1-4 before serving, which means he is now serving when the game score is odd.

It's also slightly off that Geoffrey starts serving the first set, and then Geoffrey begins serving the third set after 12 games. This, however, could simply be the result of Geoffrey letting Edward begin serving the third set, out-of-order and out of strict compliance with the rules, as a sop after beating him 6-0, 6-0 in the first two sets.

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Quotes

Edward Mayhew: [about his mother] When he used this horrible phrase, everything changed. Brain-damaged. Suddenly I saw her the way other people did.
Florence Ponting: That must have been awful. You're always very kind to her. My mother just pretends to be brain-damaged.

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Connections

Features A Taste of Honey (1961)

User Reviews

Flawed but moving tale of a bygone sexual era.

Set against Dorset's spectacular shingle bank of Chesil Beach (which is a bitch to walk along!) the story, set primarily in 1962, joins two newly-weds Florence (Saoirse Ronan, "Brooklyn", "Lady Bird") and Edward (Billy Howle, "Dunkirk") about to embark on the sexual adventure of their conjugation at a seaside hotel. The timing of the film is critical: 1962 really marked the watershed between the staid conservatism and goody-two-shoes-ness of the 50's and the sexual liberation of the swinging sixties. Sex before marriage was frowned upon. The problem for Florence and Edward is that sex after marriage is looking pretty unlikely too! For the inexperienced couple have more hang-ups about sex than there are pebbles on the beach.

The lead-up to their union is squirm-inducing to watch: a silent silver-service meal in their room; incompetent fumbling with zippers; shoes that refuse to come off. To prolong the agony for the viewer, we work through flashbacks of their first meeting at Oxford University and their disfunctional family lives: for Florence a bullying father and mother (Samuel West and Emily Watson) and for Edward a loving but stressed father (TV regular, Adrian Scarborough) but mentally impaired mother (Anne-Marie Duff, "Suffragette", "Before I Go To Sleep").

As Ian McEwan is known to do (as per the end of "Atonement" for example), there are a couple of clever "Oh My God" twists in the tale: one merely hinted at in flashback; another involving a record-buying child that is also unresolved but begs a massive question.

The first half of the film is undoubtedly better than the last: while the screenplay is going for the "if only" twist of films like "Sliding Doors" and "La La Land", the film over-stretches with some dodgy make-up where alternative actors would have been a far better choice. The ending still had the power to move me though.

Saoirse Ronan is magnificent: I don't think I've seen the young Irish-American in a film I didn't enjoy. Here she is back with a McEwan adaptation again and bleeds discomfort with every line of her face. Her desperate longing to talk to someone - such as the kindly probing vicar - is constantly counteracted by her shame and embarassment. Howle also holds his own well (no pun intended) but when up against the acting tour de force of Ronan he is always going to appear in second place.

A brave performance comes from Anne-Marie Duff who shines as the mentally wayward mother. The flashback where we see how she came to be that way is wholly predicatable but still manages to shock. And Duff is part of a strong ensemble cast who all do their bit.

Another star of the show for me is the photography by Sean Bobbitt ("12 Years a Slave") which portrays the windswept Dorset beach beautifully but manages to get the frame close and claustrophobic when it needs to be. Wide panoramas with characters barely on the left and right of the frame will play havoc with DVD ratios on TV, but work superbly on the big screen.

Directed by stage-director Dominic Cooke, in his movie-directing debut, this is a brave story to try to move from page to screen and while it is not without faults it is a ball-achingly sad tale that moved me. Recommended if you enjoyed the similarly sad tale of "Atonement".

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Japan]

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 May 2018 (USA)

Also Known As:

On Chesil Beach

Filming Locations:

Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$35,765, 20 May 2018

Gross USA:

$745,971

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$3,335,913

Company Credits

Production Co:

BBC Films, Number 9 Films, Golan Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1