Angels And Insects Reviews

Bring on the Ants!!!

Okay, prepare to be in for a long wait. This film only gets interesting about 1 hour in - when the main character (Mark Rylance) begins to study a city of ants in the grounds of the large family estate that he has been allowed to marry into. The ants are animated which is more than can be said for Rylance. If ever there was an advert for how not to do period drama then this is it - slow, monotonous and draaaaaaaawn out!

Douglas Henshall adds a bit of spice as the protective elder brother of Rylance's new wife (Kensit), but then he has his reasons. However, the one saving grace is Kristin Scott Thomas as the governess - her effortless acting hooks your attention and thankfully allows you to forget about her dreary co-stars for the screentime that she has.

But the real stars are the ants and as we move into micro-documentary footage of their daily lives and battles you actually find characters that you care about, that you can identify with.....and surely cheaper to employ than Rylance who needs nothing more than a good slap round the face to snap him out of his dull, dull, dull delivery.

[Highly rated reviewer]

'Angels And Insects'

Intresting story with an out come that makes watching worth while. Miss PK has done better, but still worth a viewing.

slow drama

My reason for watching was that this was an adaptation of an AS Byatt book and I loved Possession another of her books. I found this slow going although beautiful to look at. By the time the shock element was introduced I think we all knew what it was going to be and wonder if it was simply that which earned the 18 certificate. I can't believe it was the nudity.

The parallel lives of the insects were a tad more exciting than that of the main characters, however.

Angels and Insects

A visually stunning film with mysterious goings on including incest between brother and sister tother and and also epitomises the class war in that period

Mark Rylance,s voice is a bit monotononous but you get to see a LOT of Patsy Kensit which was good and overall i enjoyed the film

Customer Review

Mark Rylance acting. A. S. Byatt story. Sounds like a sure-fire hit. Unfortunately this was not the case in my opinion.

Whereas I realize that the Adamson character (Rylance) was meant to be rather straight laced, I do think it was overdone. Unlike the characters in the story that project humanity onto insects, I felt I was merely observing the characters actions with no intuition of their feelings. The revelations that I assume were meant to shock, did not seem shocking at all as I did not particularly care what happened to the observed characters.

There were a number of elements such as bright colours on the dresses that were obvious comparisons between the human and the insect world, but these seemed too obvious and overplayed.

Starting from the story, I would imagine the director would have to choose between a realistic interpretation or more of a fantasy approach. I have the impression the director never made his mind up which path to take.

This film is rated 18. I guess that is due to the story rather than the presentation - although there is some nudity and sexual activity I would not class the images as particularly shocking these days. I wonder if the film would still have received an 18 certificate if there was no nudity.

I rate this film as 2 stars. I watched it to the end - otherwise I might only have only have given it one star.

Intelligent, moving and superb

This is film does not adhere to the stereotypical forms of the historical romance - the hero and heroine are not the brightly coloured, strutting aristrocrats (if their triumph is what you want then this is not for you). Instead the heroes are members of the drab underclass intended for a sterile servitude. Instead of dash and bodice ripping (though bodices are shed several times) this has intelligence, real passion and the genuine delight of a 'marriage of true minds'.

The quiet, emotional intensity of Mark Rylance is amazing (difficult to imagine anyone else doing this sucessfully) and Kristin Scott-Thomas is absolutely superb - it is a delight to see them act together.

The film adheres closely to the AS Byatt novella. For Mark Rylance fans this evokes some of the elements of the fim Intimacy (but without its bleak afterburn).

Friday night...

A great end of the week film. Beautiful shots of insects and a fascinating story with a twist which is sort of predictable but luckily there is enough going on for this not to matter. Very enjoyable.

Angels and Insects

What? What was it about? Who agreed to make it? Okey some of the dresses were nice, but that is the best bit ....