A LETTERED SOUL: REFLECTIONS ON LITERATURE, CINEMA AND CULTURE .

PLACES IN THE HEART : ON THE UNDERRATED 1994 FEATURE TOM AND VIV.

TOM AND VIV (1994)

CAST: MIRANDA RICHARDSON, WILLEM DAFOE, ROSEMARY HARRIS, TIM DUTTON, NICKOLAS GRACE.

DIRECTION : BRIAN GILBERT.
****
I got the opportunity to view the very underrated TOM AND VIV as part of a prestigious Films and Literature paper for my Masters degree in 2015. To cut a long story short, it was an intensely revelatory experience and moved me to tears. There will be a lump in the throat for anyone who watches it.

For starters, this is a tale draped in the sombre hues of an ill fated union between literary giant T. S Eliot and his anonymous better half Vivianne Haigh Wood. Director Brian Gilbert sculpts a candid portrait of this relationship bound to invite polarized views about not just the legend himself but also the supposedly cozy institution of marriage in general; the complexity of being understood by those who claim to love us and catch our drifts through the thick and thin of life's never ending cycle, in particular, catches our attentions hence.
It's a fictional retelling culled from a play by Michael Hastings and supposed real life accounts, and as the tradition of semi autobiographies go, nothing shown here should be considered the pinnacle of cinematic accuracy or gospel of absolute truth as regards primary facts. The truth, I believe, lies lodged in the dead who saw it all. However, the ones recreated here carry basic principals of its weight for sure. These concerns are eventually going to hardly matter as the dramatic representation is full of pathos, charm and the beautiful trajectory of Miranda Richardson and Rosemary Harris' performances ( both were nominated for Oscars in 1995) vividly catapult every mood into one of veritable urgency.

The film opens with the voice over of Viv's brother Maurice (Tim Hutton) and diagnoses the nerve of a college genius who caught the intellectual fancy of Bertrand Russell (Nickolas Grace) and attentions of a female student, the high spirited Viv (Richardson) The genius was an American by the name of Thomas Stearns Eliot whose single desire was to be christened an Englishman and settle down in the citadel of literary buzz to further his own prospects. As an admirer of the voice that gave us prophetic poetic masterpieces as THE WASTELAND, THE HOLLOW MAN, LOVE SONG OF J. ALFRED PRUFROCK, JOURNEY OF THE MAGI and the profound poetic drama MURDER IN THE CATHEDRAL, I was caught off guard by how unconventional his beginnings were, facts known to me but only in passing. Unlike other figures, he's far from a misanthrope here and his whirlwind romance and elopement with the loquacious Viv is sweet and fleetingly entertaining. The only showcase for her so far lies in her privileged background and supportive family who are willing to look beyond Eliot's stiffneck persona and admire him for his sincerity of being. Thus, they take their vows. The gambols and initial promise of happy ever after disappears soon enough ; their bond hits the wall owing to a rare medical condition on Viv's part which leads to wild hormonal and menstrual imbalances and, in turn, mental disintegration. This unraveling during their honeymoon invites poignancy. Eliot buckles under pressure but is avowed to a lifetime of commitment to the woman hailing his latent mastery and is an equal in literary partnership, so far as editing his famous works and even providing the title for THE WASTELAND.