The first big screen
adaptation of English author Daphne du Maurier’s My Cousin Rachel came in the form of the 20th Century
Fox produced 1952 Henry Koster film with Olivia de Havilland as the titular and
mysterious Rachel. A loose and
complicated romantic period drama, My
Cousin Rachel told the story of Philip Ashley (originally played by Richard
Burton) living on the rural coast of Cornwall, England who grows suspicious his
cousin Rachel may or may not have murdered her husband and vows vengeance. Upon meeting Rachel, he discovers she is a
different person than the one he’s built up his hatred for and the two fall
into a mercurial and often tenuous romance with the ever-paranoid Philip still
suspicious of her ‘ulterior motives’.
In league with Far from the Madding Crowd with loose
connections to Hitchcock’s Suspicion,
the film was met with critical and box office success. Before and after the film’s release however,
du Maurier and the film’s first director George Cukor lamented the deviations
undertaken by producer and screenwriter Nunnally Johnson before Cukor was
replaced by Koster with some critics asserting the titular Rachel lost her
ambiguity and mystique in translation to the big screen. In the wake of the critical success of their
recently released remake of Far from the
Madding Crowd, 20th Century Fox has now revisited the once
troubled production that alienated it’s author and original director in an
effort to do du Maruier’s tale of paranoid and suspicious romance justice while
catering to renewed interest in the author’s work.
Directed this time around by
Notting Hill director Roger Michell
with Rachel Weisz in the titular role, this new My Cousin Rachel ultimately proves to be the more faithful take on
the material of the two adaptations. Offering
up it’s own unique blend of costumed drama splendor, scenic beauty and
restoring the unresolved mystery surrounding the main character, the new film
is a solid remake (or reinterpretation rather) with fine acting across the
board and elegant costume design set within the aristocratic world of old
England while channeling a few modernist angles on the material. Not all of it fits with the era being
depicted, coming off a bit anachronistic at times, but the performances and
intrigue taking place in the arena of elegant table manners where the slight
difference in one’s glance or gaze can’t help but give her cousin Philip (Sam
Claflin now) mixed signals.
As a longtime fan of the
British costumed period drama, it’s gratifying to see studios still making
these kinds of character driven films in a marketplace oversaturated with
tentpole blockbuster vehicles. Being a
modestly sized independent production, My
Cousin Rachel is a sumptuous watch faithful to the source but at the same
time wasn’t as involving or morally complex as the material should have
been. While leaving out the deviations
undertaken by the 1952 film, not all of the clinchers and climaxes leaving
readers with a lot to wrestle with register with the same dramatic power
here.
A bit of a shame My Cousin Rachel as a film proved engaging and intriguing but a tad underwhelming that it didn’t drop the gavel on the viewer in quite the way du Maurier’s most definitely should have. That said, Rachel Weisz imbues the character with confidence, charm and seduction while leaving ample room for both Philip and the audience to question what lies behind her cool gaze. As a longtime filmgoer watching the creative powers in the film industry slowly shift towards the television machine, that these kind of stories are still being told and exhibited in theaters is a blessing and healthy antidote to the increasingly limited options presented to the ticket buyer. Not a masterpiece or anywhere near the level of dramatic weight the source contained therein but a solid, modestly sized night at the movies all the same.
Score:
- Andrew Kotwicki