Swann (1996, Miranda Richardson, Brenda Fricker) – Classic Film Review 1200

Director Anna Benson Gyles‘s 1996 literary heart-warmer with intelligence and soul provides a lovely acting showcase for talented Miranda Richardson and Brenda Fricker.

Richardson plays a hit author Sarah Maloney, who is asked to write the biography of brutally murdered real-life Canadian rural poetess Mary Swann, and visits librarian Rose Hindmarsh (Fricker) for her research. Rose, the last to see Swann alive before she was hacked to death by her husband  in a small town in rural Ontario, has taken on the publication and preservation of Swann’s work.

After initial distrust, an unlikely friendship develops between the two women and the film turns into a literary detective story and wry comment on journalism, literature and academic truth. Rose soon finds herself at the centre of a controversy.

It’s a hard one to sell, but the performances and handling are so delicate as to be nigh-on perfect and David Young‘s screenplay, based on Carol Shields‘s novel, is exquisitely honed.

Michael Ontkean, John Neville, Sean Hewitt and David Cubitt also star.

Fricker became the first Irish actress to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for My Left Foot.

Richardson is a two-time Academy Award nominee and has won a BAFTA and two Golden Globe Awards.

Ontkean is best known for Slap Shot (1977) and the TV series Twin Peaks (1990–1991).

(C) Derek Winnert 2014 Classic Film Review 1200

Link to Derek Winnert’s home page for more film reviews: http://derekwinnert.com/