![]() Hundreds Hall is an empty pile doomed to decline as more egalitarian times dawn, and its inhabitants, especially Caroline, are brutally aware of that fact. Whether or not there really is a malignant ghost in the manor - a question the film tackles more explicitly than the book - this is a family haunted by the long-ago death of Mrs Ayers’ elder daughter Susan, and by their own glorious past. And their mother Mrs Ayers ( Rampling) prefers to live in the past, covering up the house’s crumbling edges to throw sparsely attended parties. Caroline gave up her own life to care for her wounded brother and now seems destined for spinsterhood. Roderick - angry, unpredictable and in pain - is caught between his duty to the estate and a creeping sense that it’s doomed whatever he does. Faraday hungers for Hundreds Hall in a way he can’t quite voice, and that extends to its residents. ![]() This is a film that’s as much about class, then, as about ghosts, and it’s at its best when dealing with insecurity. ![]() The cast are superb, but with characters this stiff there are only glimpses of emotion. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |