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Plenty (1985)


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Less than meets the eye
Review date: 2008-11-28 Rating: 4 out of 10

It seems a cheap shot to say that there's not much to Plenty, but Meryl Streep's rather wearingly one-note performance does tend to show up the thinness of the material. Despite his penchant for bombastic metaphor and excruciatingly on-the-nose dialogue, David Hare's adaptation of his play feels rather closer to naturalism than usual, but when the woman whose dilemma at the heart of his big theme is so resoundingly one-note you do feel as if you're just being told the same thing over and over again. Streep is the former SOE worker who, like Britain itself, was at her best and most noble during the war but struggles to come to terms with the post-war reality of stagnation, emptiness and missed opportunities in a country whose soul-crushing bureaucracy grows as its empire shrinks. Which is a perfectly serviceable metaphor for post-war disillusionment even if the WW2 scenes in France have absolutely no vitality or danger to them to provide much of a contrast. Unfortunately it's another case of the actress giving an accent rather than a performance, and a not entirely convincing one at that. She just says the words, overpronouncing one or two from time to time and plays the superficial surface attention-seeking big moments rather than showing us what's inside, which gets to be like watching Lady MacBeth's mad scene for two hours. Rather than a woman being stifled in a world where expression is frowned upon, there's not much sign that there was ever a person in there to begin with. The only scene where she convinces is the final flashback, and at the cost of losing dramatic irony it may have been better had the scene been moved earlier in the picture to give a sense of the hope and ideals that are dashed.

Not that Streep is the only offender. Almost everyone is very visibly giving a performance, as if reminding us that this used to be a play. Tracey Ullman delivers a particularly awful supporting turn, sounding like she's doing a bad voice over for a preschool cartoon character as her affectedly bohemian best friend. Ian McKellan does little more than a second-rate Alan Bates impersonation despite being gifted one of the film's better scenes explaining the diplomatic mindset that has drowned the brief spurt of post-war optimism. Only John Gielgud's betrayed civil servant, stretching himself just a little bit more than his latter roles usually required, and an excellent Charles Dance as Streep's devoted but constantly frustrated minor diplomat husband who never realizes he's the personification of many of her problems really shine. The film improves as it progresses despite Fred Schepisi's often coldly detached direction, and there are good moments - a dinner party from hell at the height of the Suez Crisis chief among them - but they just aren't quite enough to make up for the void at its heart. In a way, this feels like a film that may have been made too soon. Cate Blanchett played the role in a West End revival a few years ago and brought out the nuance and struggle within the character far more convincingly. Still, at least the film does offer Gielgud telling a Burmese diplomat's wife that "Ingmar Bergman is NOT a bloody Norwegian, he is a bloody Swede."


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Reviews


Plenty of sighs
Review date: 2008-09-14 Rating: 6 out of 10

Plenty, is the sad and terribly unconvincing story of English woman Susan Traherne's life during and after WWII. Entirely crafted by Fred Schepisi, from a play by David Hare, Plenty portrays Susan's life, from the dangers and excitements of Resistance fighter in France to the twenty or so following years of boredom, disillusion and bourgeois existence. Determined to change the world, Susan returns to England, only to face a vacuous society, far more concerned by coping with reality than to change it. Susan is supposed to have lived such an intense and meningful life (dangers, excitements, passionate love and worth-to-die-for feelings and gestures) during her Resistance years in France, that she has become unfit to reality. All very good, at least if you want to buy it. True, Meryl Streep is an excellent actress and she can twist your heart with one simple blink of the eye. She is a true professional, but that may very well be the problem. Let me explain. Susan is supposed to be (or have been anyway) a passionate and warm woman, with a thing for danger - One of her less convincing lines at the end of the movie, when she says "I have a weakness, I like to lose control". She will have us believe that she speaks French (she says to the man who will later become her lover "Your French is not very good", but hey, neither is hers) and that she really cares for others' problems and needs. From that point on, Schepisi and Streep do try their best to portray Susan's struggle, as she tries to cope with the emptiness of her new life in post-war Britain. The problem is that Streep's character is spoiled, selfish and self-indulging to put it nicely. Her long-suffering - and almost to the point of lunacy - husband, Raymond Brock (Charles Dance) tells her at the end of the movie, that "she can't bear other people's ability to find happiness in other ways than hers". And her lover, Mick (Sting) accuses her of being selfish and rude, almost dangerous. All true alas. Even worse, she manages to be snobbish and hysterical at the same time, while we are desperately trying to find one good reason to sympathize with her fate. The fact is, she is never loveable, to the point that have us wonder who is the person she strives to free from political and social cynism. Was she ever there in the first place? And if yes, would she have one loveable feature in her makeup? No guaranty at all. Having written all this about Streep's unsuccessful performance, it is probably true that she did her best with Schepisi's screenplay. But let's face it, the first part of the movie (Susan's life during WWII) is far too sketchily rendered to have us sympatize with her later bad ways. Her one-time war lover (Sam Neill) turns out to be a dull and very common man, while the political and social aspects of the movie seem to be reduced to one or two good lines (Ian MacKellan, as the English diplomat who explains to Susan that "attitude is the only thing Britain has left", or John Gielgud a-propos the Suez crisis "at least we would have ruined it honestly"). At the end of the movie, Susan is shown in a flashback, standing in a sunny French meadow, looking at the view and saying "I have climbed the hill to have a better view". This might very well be the truest and more meningful moment of the film, when we realize (hopefully Susan too) that much has been lost in the aftermath of the war, but if you manage to climb higher than yourself, chances are you will no longer make plenty of sighs.

A beautiful but sour-hearted confection
Review date: 2008-08-05 Rating: 6 out of 10

Brilliantly created, finely scripted, beautifully acted by a who's who of British (and American) character actors, amazing to look at, a perfect gem of a movie... yet strangely unsatisfying. Or should that read 'dissatisfying'?

Much as I admire David Hare for his skilfull stage masterpieces, I can't help feeling that he's created here a confection consisting of a series of ornate historical set pieces, rather like a Christmas present wrapped with layers of brightly-coloured paper and ribbon, at the heart of which is a rather sour plum. Ultimately, it's a cynical and sour-hearted film, giving Meryl Streep the opportunity to act her cotton socks off and in the process go totally off the rails in some style, but strangely incoherent too.

The narrative gave little opportunity for the audience to feel sympathetically about any character, only to allow the post-war nostalgia to wash over you like a wet sponge. Don't expect to come out feeling any sense of euphoria, though. Hare drains any positive feeling like a barrowload of leeches. Watch - but enjoyment is at a premium.

Sublime English nostalgia
Review date: 2006-07-14 Rating: 10 out of 10

I first saw this film when I was about 17, I remember it but I'm not sure why I would have liked it. But 20 years later I can see its real beauty.

It's about hopes and aspirations. The intensity of youth that tails off, becoming frustration and boredom. This is one of those classic English films, depicting a class and its cruelties. The problem of living for yourself or making sacrifices for others. Meryl Streep is beautiful: poised, elegant, brittle, mad. I'd forgotten what a genius John Gielgud was - his comedy turns are so polished.

Charles Dance as the emotionally limited Englishman is very good. Tracey Ullman and Sting play bit parts very well.

I've watched it twice on DVD and seen more equisite details each time. And the music is haunting and fabulous, too.

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Meryl Streep
Ian McKellen
Tracey Ullman
John Gielgud
Charles Dance

Creators:
Meryl Streep (Primary Contributor)
Tracey Ullman (Primary Contributor)

Recording label: Cinema Club
Manufacturer: Cinema Club
EAN: 5014138300234
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Anamorphic, Digital Sound, Dolby, PAL,
Release date: 2006-06-26
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 123 minutes
Language: English (Original Language)

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