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Hyde Park on the Hudson
Feb. 24th, 2013 08:30 pmI finally saw Hyde Park on the Hudson today, and felt really rather disappointed with it. The scenery is beautiful: they're in upstate New York and it's lovely. And the British royals were delightful. It must have been rather unnerving for the poor fellow playing King George VI to realize he had to live up to Colin Firth's performance in The King's Speech. But I daresay "anxious and uncertain that you're fit to do the job" is pretty much the right mindset with which to approach King George VI, so...yay involuntary method acting?
It continually surprises me to remember that Helena Bonham Carter played Queen Elizabeth in that movie. It's not at all like the role she seems to be continually stuck in these days, and she was excellent. Man, I want to watch The King's Speech again...
However, aside from reminding me how much I like The King's Speech, Hyde Park on the Hudson didn't do much for me. It focuses on Franklin Delano Roosevelt's affair with his distant cousin, Daisy Suckley; her voiceover guides us through the movie, but nonetheless we don't get much insight into her feelings (or anyone else's, for that matter).
What does she like so much about FDR? Do they share any important interests or qualities or anything, really, or does she just love that he gets her out of her cramped little life? And how does she feel about the fact that she's carrying on an affair with a married man? What does she think of Eleanor? Does she think of Eleanor?
The fact that she has no apparent regard for Eleanor's feelings made it completely laughable to me when Daisy realized with horror that, OMG!, she's not FDR's only mistress. What a hypocrite! If he's not faithful to Eleanor, who is a) interesting and thoughtful and b) actually his wife, why would he be faithful to a boring little nonentity like Daisy Suckley?
Assuming the movie is portraying her accurately, of course: it manages to make most of its characters completely opaque and unlikable, so it's possible that she like the rest of them had interests and thoughts and dreams that simply never make it on the screen.
Honestly, I think the movie would have been much more interesting if it focused more on politics and less on FDR and his harem. Portraying all the characters as self-serving and petty would have been less depressing in politics than it was in personal relationships.
It continually surprises me to remember that Helena Bonham Carter played Queen Elizabeth in that movie. It's not at all like the role she seems to be continually stuck in these days, and she was excellent. Man, I want to watch The King's Speech again...
However, aside from reminding me how much I like The King's Speech, Hyde Park on the Hudson didn't do much for me. It focuses on Franklin Delano Roosevelt's affair with his distant cousin, Daisy Suckley; her voiceover guides us through the movie, but nonetheless we don't get much insight into her feelings (or anyone else's, for that matter).
What does she like so much about FDR? Do they share any important interests or qualities or anything, really, or does she just love that he gets her out of her cramped little life? And how does she feel about the fact that she's carrying on an affair with a married man? What does she think of Eleanor? Does she think of Eleanor?
The fact that she has no apparent regard for Eleanor's feelings made it completely laughable to me when Daisy realized with horror that, OMG!, she's not FDR's only mistress. What a hypocrite! If he's not faithful to Eleanor, who is a) interesting and thoughtful and b) actually his wife, why would he be faithful to a boring little nonentity like Daisy Suckley?
Assuming the movie is portraying her accurately, of course: it manages to make most of its characters completely opaque and unlikable, so it's possible that she like the rest of them had interests and thoughts and dreams that simply never make it on the screen.
Honestly, I think the movie would have been much more interesting if it focused more on politics and less on FDR and his harem. Portraying all the characters as self-serving and petty would have been less depressing in politics than it was in personal relationships.
