Here is a question which has dogged me each time I watch this film - and I have seen it over 40 times: Two times during the film, Cynthia Purley (Brenda Blethyn) discusses the circumstances under which her daughter, Hortense Cumberbatch (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) was born - but when Hortense asks who her father is, Cynthia cannot say.
In the restaurant, when Cynthia realizes that she, a white woman, is indeed the mother of this black daughter, she has a moment where she hints at the true circumstances of Hortense's birth. We realize that Hortense's father is black...but is there another secret? After all, at the birthday party for Cynthia's other daughter Roxanne (Claire Rushbrook), Cynthia tells Roxanne that her father's name was Bingham - that he was an American medical student that she met on holiday while she was at Benidorm. So, she can tell people who Roxanne's true father was. But when Hortense asks if her father "was a nice man," Cynthia can't say - or won't.
The question to be asked here, which no one breaches, is: Was Hortense the product of rape? Was the 15 year old Cynthia Purley raped by a black man in 1968 in London? And did she then keep the child, only to give it up for adoption? Why doesn't anyone ask this? Why does Cynthia let Roxanne know who her father is, but not Hortense? Now, was this done on purpose by the director and/or the screenwriter? After all, it would be simple enough to see the name of the child, "Elizabeth Rose Purley," on the birth certificate that Hortense gets a copy of. If it is blank, this would prove that Cynthia did not know who the father was - pointing the way to rape.
But the question is not asked, and the answer not given.
Can we speculate? Can we broach the subject that a black man raped a white girl and yet she did not abort the child and instead gave it life and then gave it away? This is an absolutely fantastic film. From Brenda Blethyn to Marianne Jean-Baptiste (now on CSI:New York without her British accent) to Timothy Spall, this film is filled with Oscar worthy performances. Why this was passed over for the (dull and boring) "The English Patient" is beyond me.
I would recommend this film without doubt. It is one of the finest pieces of film-making and acting I have ever seen.
In the restaurant, when Cynthia realizes that she, a white woman, is indeed the mother of this black daughter, she has a moment where she hints at the true circumstances of Hortense's birth. We realize that Hortense's father is black...but is there another secret? After all, at the birthday party for Cynthia's other daughter Roxanne (Claire Rushbrook), Cynthia tells Roxanne that her father's name was Bingham - that he was an American medical student that she met on holiday while she was at Benidorm. So, she can tell people who Roxanne's true father was. But when Hortense asks if her father "was a nice man," Cynthia can't say - or won't.
The question to be asked here, which no one breaches, is: Was Hortense the product of rape? Was the 15 year old Cynthia Purley raped by a black man in 1968 in London? And did she then keep the child, only to give it up for adoption? Why doesn't anyone ask this? Why does Cynthia let Roxanne know who her father is, but not Hortense? Now, was this done on purpose by the director and/or the screenwriter? After all, it would be simple enough to see the name of the child, "Elizabeth Rose Purley," on the birth certificate that Hortense gets a copy of. If it is blank, this would prove that Cynthia did not know who the father was - pointing the way to rape.
But the question is not asked, and the answer not given.
Can we speculate? Can we broach the subject that a black man raped a white girl and yet she did not abort the child and instead gave it life and then gave it away? This is an absolutely fantastic film. From Brenda Blethyn to Marianne Jean-Baptiste (now on CSI:New York without her British accent) to Timothy Spall, this film is filled with Oscar worthy performances. Why this was passed over for the (dull and boring) "The English Patient" is beyond me.
I would recommend this film without doubt. It is one of the finest pieces of film-making and acting I have ever seen.
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