Tale of age and will climbs new heights
Print Edition
IN the northwest of Scotland, there stands a glacier-carved mountain called Suilven.
Climbing it is not for the timid. But that’s not a word that describes the unusual heroine determined to conquer Suilven in director Simon Hunter’s film “Edie.”
Edith Moore, everyone calls her Edie, is no ordinary climber. She’s 83 and has been sedentary for most of that time. That mountain, though, looms large in her mind in this quiet, unrushed and moving tale of age and will.
Edie, lovingly portrayed by the brilliant Sheila Hancock, is a bitter and stubborn woman when we first meet her. She’s been taking care of her ill and controlling husband for decades, nursing a long-held dream to climb Suilven. (Her last name is a clue: She wants more.) His death liberates her, sending her to the Scottish Highlands.
“I’ve lived a whole life and most of it I would change if I could,” she says. “I’ve wasted so much time doing nothing. I can’t give this up now.”
No one she encounters thinks climbing the mountain is a good idea for a woman in her 80s who sometimes has a hard time opening car doors, except for the young co-owner of a local camping shop, Jonny (a soulful Kevin Guthrie). Edie is laughed at by the locals or considered an easy mark, but Jonny and Edie bond despite their age gap. He feels trapped in his life, too.
Together, they get Edie ready for the tough, three-day climb. There are setbacks — “Leave me alone. I’m geriatric,” she jokes — and cool new gear to buy. (Edie is a little flummoxed by modern climbing jackets. “It’s got holes in it,” she complains. “Yeah,” replies Jonny. “For your thumbs.”)
As far as the plot goes, that’s pretty much it. Older woman attempts to scale a mountain. Hancock fills in so much of the spare script with her quiet control, her expressive face and eyes. It might seem flimsy but there’s so much here, including exploring ideas of fulfillment, regret and taking a chance. Plus, it’s refreshing to have a film heroine with white hair and wrinkles. When was the last time we saw an 80-plus woman in a film in a bubble bath drinking wine?
The screenplay by Elizabeth O’Halloran (from a story by Edward Lynden-Bell) doesn’t wrap up everything in a bow at the end — it actually just sort of ends, abruptly — and Debbie Wiseman’s eager and overemotional score sometimes undermines the actors’ more quiet work.
But the uplifting “Edie” is worthy of your time, mostly thanks to Hancock and Scotland’s natural beauty.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
