“Emily” Biopic Explores Bronte’s Back Story

By Bryan VanCampen

Every once in a while, you see a period lm that feels like it could have been captured by cameras if they existed at the time of the story. Robert Eggers’ “ e Northman” (2022) felt like that and so does actor Frances O’Connor’s writing and directing debut “Emily”

Here is a fancy based on Emily Brontë (Emma Mackey) and events in her life that may have inspired a literary classic. It opens with Emily on her death bed, and her sister Charlotte (Alexandra Dowling), feeling exposed and betrayed, asking Emily how she could possibly have written “Wuthering Heights.” e story then plays out in Emily’s memories.

As if we needed another reminder, “Emily” again illustrates how perilous life was for creative, idiosyncratic women at a time when they were barely seen as human beings. Emma Mackey gets the “dark horse” feeling that Emily Brontë had to ght against. Everything she does, from making up stories and poems with sisters Charlotte and Anne Brontë (Amelia Gething) to spying on the neighbors with her brother Branwell (Fionn Whitehead) to irting with her French tutor — and the new reverend — William Weightman (Oliver Jackson-Cohen), seems like it could not just be embarrassment but ruination. With her brother, Emily begins experimenting with opium, a scandal not just within her family but the whole town. With these constraints and complications, I don’t see how Emily Brontë could have avoided writing “Wuthering Heights.”

“Emily” has a distinctive look and feel. On the one hand, O’Connor, cinematographer Nanu Segal and the technicians who have done the digital color timing have embraced the idea of how dark 19th century life was; even more than Stanley Kubrick’s “Barry Lyndon” (1975), all the indoor scenes are seemingly lit only by replaces and candle light, with the rooms behind the actors in deep shadow or darkness. But to keep the lm from feeling distant and stodgy, most of the dramatic scenes are shot with handheld cameras; the combination of the extreme lighting and the documentary approach with the camera gives “Emily” an overall vibe that’s distinctive from all other period lms.

If Frances O’Connor’s name sounds familiar, she acted in lms like Harold Ramis’ remake of “Bedazzled” (2000), Steven Spielberg’s “A.I. Arti cial Intelligence” (2001), Oliver Parker’s “ e Importance of Being Earnest” (2002) and Richard Donner’s “Timeline” (2003). ere’s nothing tentative about her writing or her directing, and “Emily” feels as assured as if it was her 10th feature and not her debut. She clearly has a personal take on Brontë and her legacy, and she certainly knows how to get the best out of her actors and also nds a unique look for lm.

“Emily” came out at the end of last year, but it's here now, and it’s one of the best lms I’ve seen this year.

Recommended: “Brian and Charles” (3/10 & 3/12), “Oscar Nominated Shorts 2023: Documentary” (3/10), “Spirited Away” (3/12) at Cornell Cinema.

RIP: Ricou Browning (“Creature from the Black Lagoon,” “Revenge of the Creature,” “ e Creature Walks Among Us”)

“Emily”

(Warner Bros.-Embankment Films-Ingenious Media-Tempo Productions-Arenamedia, 2022, 130 min.). Now playing at Cinemapolis.

10 into the nals, where they lost a 4–3 heartbreaker to the Rochester Americans, who will now head to Dallas in three weeks to play in the Nationals.

For the Syracuse team, the season has come to an end and the girls can turn their focus to their spring sport, attend some hockey camps and clinics, and re ect on a long and successful season.

It was a er 6 p.m. when the parents loaded the exhausted — and disappointed — players into the car for the 3–4 hour trip back home. It all can sound a little crazy, but —as a parent who has done it — the money is recoverable; the time with our kids is not.