Kate Winslet

Saoirse Ronan

Gemma Jones

James McArdle

Alec Secăreanu

Fiona Shaw

Sarah White

Liam Thomas

Sam Parks

Claire Rushbrook

Nick Pearse

Victoria Elliott

Beatrice Curnew

Susie Baxter

Gethin Alderman

Robert Purdy

Max Dowler

Paul Dodds

John Mackay

Mladen Petrov

Wendy Nottingham

David Juritz

Ben Hancox

James Boyd

Peter Gregson

Michael Hennessy

Harvey Scrimshaw

Ben Winkler

Ali Griffiths

Ivana Primorac

Michael O'Connor

Emile Sherman

Francis Lee

Iain Canning

Fodhla Cronin O'Reilly

Chris Wyatt

Stéphane Fontaine

Dustin O'Halloran

Volker Bertelmann

Johnnie Burn

Robert How

Fiona Weir

Simon Gillis

Rose Garnett

Mary Burke

Sarah Finlay

Zygi Kamasa

Nicky Earnshaw

Charlotte Rogers

Sophie Hervieu

Deborah Harding

Gemma Nunn

Polly Jefferies

Lucy Andrews

Guy Bevitt

India Jaques

Georgina Millett

Paddy Paddison

Dina Karklina

Emma Harrison

Rebecca Todd

Jess Alexander

Cara Walker

Ewan Robertson

Richard Field

Simon Hedges

Dean Coffey

Colin Strachan

Grace Clark

Massimo Vico

Anna Seifert-Speck

Jonjo Stickland

Dougal Cadiou

Kristin Davis

Trisha Joyce

Christian Muresan

Oscar Burn

Phil Cape

Crispin Layfield

Yara Caubet

Nicholas Hajicosta

Raz Khamehseifi

Eddy Pearce

Darryl King

Sarah Brest

Ruth Goodman

Simon Jarrett

Dani Biernat

Johannes Lohmann

Darren Payne

Jonah Mayfield

Jim Hajicosta

Catharine Brown

Helena Beeson

Julie Tottman

Simone Charnley

Katherine Bridle

Tila Sampaio Diogo

Alison Streatfield

Richard Cornelius

Scott Clements

Daniel Vico

Sarah Wilson

Mick Hurrell

Bill Brown

Sara Kuna

Anu Pekkarinen

Holly Rosenthal

Rosie Sinfield

Stephanie Andrew

Laura Hart

Jo Vaughan

Nigel Moore

Calin Nicoara

Alan Graham

Rob Davies

Tihamer Laszlo

Vincent Goodsell

Constanze Sannemüller

David Harriman

Tamsin Spivey

Andy Cole

Patrick Gledhill

Lee Hosken

Romance

Drama

Ammonite

See-Saw Films

United Kingdom

English

paleontologist

biography

lesbian relationship

period drama

lgbt

fossil

19th century

calm

dorset

lesbian

dramatic

gentle

gloomy

SWITCH.

Much like its protagonist, 'Ammonite' is a film that initially keeps you at a distance - but this is a deliberate decision, one that makes the embrace of the final act all the more powerful. This isn't a sweeping story of passionate love, but a journey back <i>to</i> love, and a journey with an unexpected destination. Perhaps what Mary is looking for - the true fossil she is trying to uncover within herself - is not the connection of another person but the connection with herself, a forgotten part of herself long-buried or taken away. Charlotte is the path to that salvation, and in turn, is led out of the darkness herself, returned to a kind of love and passion thought lost, and giddy at the finding of it. 'Ammonite' is such a beautiful, soulful and intelligent film, made with honesty, integrity and an unexpected sense of humour that breaks through the rock encasing it. It confirms that our faith in Francis Lee is well-founded, and offers yet another classic queer drama that pushes against the expectations of the kinds of lives these films can explore.
- Daniel Lammin

Read Daniel's full article...
https://www.maketheswitch.com.au/article/review-ammonite-francis-lee-delivers-another-beautiful-portrait-of-love-and-longing

Peter McGinn

As entertainment, I enjoyed watching Ammonite. The protagonist, Mary Anning, is an intriguing woman. She is prickly and somewhat anti-social, at least to strangers. Yet she puts up with oppressive behavior by her mother, perhaps to keep the peace or because they are family. She is dedicated to her pursuit of science through paleontology, but also pays the bills by creating what amount to trinkets to sell to tourists. She is interesting, which isn’t a bad thing in a main character.

But Mary Anning was a real person, and as such, the filmmakers “elevated” her story by involving her in a lesbian relationship that was not supported by any historical evidence. This is what movies do, and it does add to the plot, though it was small consolation to a descendant of Mary Anning, who questioned whether it was polite to the historical figure to do so. I am reminded of the movie Cinderella Man, directed by the talented Ron Howard, where boxer Max Baer’s son protested because Howard had made Max more vicious than he was. Baer was playful and even boxers he fought liked him outside the ring. But this is what directors do.

One possible result of that added subplot is the enigmatic ending. We are left wondering about the ultimate relationship of the two women, and perhaps that is at least partly because history is so vague on Mary Anning’s sexuality in general.

But this is not a documentary; it is a biopic, a different animal altogether, as I alluded to it above. If this movie hadn’t’t been made, flawed factual details in all, I would never have heard of Mary Anning at all. So I think her legacy and her place in history is ultimately improved by the film. Sometimes, in fact, a popular biopic leads to increased interest and attention for a historical character. That can’t be a bad thing, can it?

CinemaSerf

This is a beautifully crafted piece of work from Francis Lee and Stéphane Fontaine that depicts the rather downtrodden existence of 19th century English paleontologist Mary Anning (Kate Winslet) who spends much of her time combing the beach for shells and fossils that she restores and sells in a small shop she shares with her ailing mother (Gemma Jones). The arrival of the enthusiastic Roderick Murchison (James McArdle) and his wife Charlotte (Saoirse Ronan) changes her pretty breadline, dreary, routine as he, initially, pays her to show him how to spot the ammonite but then leaves his poorly wife in her care to recuperate from an as yet undefined malady. The story is essentially about how the two women bond, and about how that bond intensifies and it features two very strong performances from the leads who struggle with their delicately smouldering relationship. Together with Lee, they manage to deliver a sense of their longing in a largely un-passionate - yet not sterile - fashion. The snag is that the film really, really, lacks pace and characterisation. It's not that is needs to be a full-on sex-fest, it's that their dialogue is sparing to the point of frugality. Why do they bond? At times their affinity is hard to fathom; terse even - and there is a maternal affinity that seems to compromise the potency of their chemistry as people who are falling in love. There are a couple touching contributions from Fiona Shaw and Gemma Jones (sort of reprises her role from "God's Own Country" (2017)) and there is an explicit swipe at the male-driven scientific community that did it's best to discourage/ignore the obvious skills possessed by Anning, but as a film for the big screen it just lacks depth - we are left to guess/assume way too much and it left me feeling just a bit empty.

Full review: <a>https://www.tinakakadelis.com/beyond-the-cinerama-dome/2021/12/28/between-a-rock-and-a-hard-place-ammonite-review<a>

Despite the fact that production and filming began prior to Celine Sciamma’s exquisite _Portrait of a Lady on Fire_, Francis Lee’s _Ammonite_ was released after it and cannot escape the comparison. The two films are similar in that both take place in secluded oceanside locales, focus on a lesbian relationship, and are period pieces. However, that is where the similarities end. While _Portrait of a Lady on Fire_ soars, _Ammonite_ stumbles.

Ammonite( 2020)

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A review by SWITCH.

Written by SWITCH. on Sun Nov 15 2020

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