As said, this is a film of craftsmanship.
Wright plays his cards very skilfully indeed, carefully capturing the periods of both 1935 aristocracy as well as WW2. The sound design is immaculate, the sets are detailed to an extraordinary degree, and herding his actors to do, seemingly, exactly as he'd like them to. It's quite an achievement.
The problem is that while there are masks and marionettes pirouetting around in this confessionary tale, the director and his crew divest the film with everything but heart. There are well-written characters, they speak their lines well, and there is a strong and emotionally overwhelming story to be told... Yet, the film feels tragically synthetic, overbaked, even claustrophobic. It's cold.
Advertisement
