No connection to the subject of Hamilton here. It's another historical figure from around the same era: Emma Hamilton. Even if her name doesn't ring a bell, you may have seen her portraits by George Romney, Joshua Reynolds, and others.
Emma (Vivien Leigh) is heavily implied to have been licentious in youth, until Charles Francis Greville (not portrayed herein) courted her into upper-class society. Alas, he's not the type to follow through on proposals, and Emma marries his uncle, Lord Hamilton (Alan Mowbray), ambassador to Naples, out of sheer convenience. This convenience does become pretty cushy, but it is hardly surprising to anyone that her heart should wander from her husband, especially upon meeting Admiral Horatio Nelson (Laurence Olivier).
Yep, a romance of infidelity, and Nelson isn't single either. Of course, the censors of the day wouldn't allow such an affair to end nicely. Fortunately for them, neither did history. It shouldn't be a spoiler to say that Nelson dies at sea. And we learn from the opening scene, from which the bulk of the story is told in flashback, that Lady Hamilton doesn't live like a "lady" anymore. Ordinarily, I'd expect some manner of bright side at the very end -- a hope spot at least -- but this telling is ultimately relentless.
Just as well that I wasn't especially invested in their love, which hardly needed a spark to set off. Not for lack of trying on the part of the filmmakers. The acting, cinematography, and music all work together beautifully, so I appreciated it more on a technical level than an emotional one.
I took at least as much interest in Nelson as an admiral. Before long, he loses an arm and goes blind in one eye, doing no apparent harm to any of his relationships. No one could use a break from military service more than he could, yet no one is more convinced that the military as a whole must not rest in the face of Napoleon's ambition. His final ship battle scene, according to director Alexander Korda's nephew, does a good job of recapturing the essence of paintings of the event -- and hiding the poor studio budget.
Korda, having migrated to the U.S. in desperation, made this movie at the request of Winston Churchill, who adored it. I would not have guessed that the Napoleonic Wars could stand in for WWII, but it makes sense to see Nelson as an antidote for the Neville Chamberlain type: "Come on, Britannia; don't give that tyrant an opening to expand his empire!" Too bad the propagandist message gets a little diluted as Nelson commits adultery and pays a karmic price.
I can't promise a good history lesson from this film. Still, you should be able to like it one way or another.
No comments:
Post a Comment