I had good reasons for seeing the 2017 film On Chesil Beach. Firstly Ian McEwan is one of the most intriguing modern novelists I have read, especially his 2007 novella of the same name! Secondly the brilliant film Atonement was based on Ian McEwan's 2001 novella Atonement and starred, amongst others, Keira Knightley and Saoirse Ronan. Thirdly Chesil Beach was set in 1962, an intriguing time that came just before my personal “Golden Era” of 1965-1970. Finally the book was quite rightly shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2007, my best guide for selecting novels to read every year.
Author McEwan did the screenplay adaptation, and the film was directed by Dominic Cooke.
The newlywed stars on their honeymoon were both anxious virgins. The new wife was Florence Ponting, a talented and ambitious violinist, and the new husband was Edward Mayhew. I remember my grand mother talking about the dangers of sex before marriage, but who discussed the terror of sexual intimacy after marriage?
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Author McEwan did the screenplay adaptation, and the film was directed by Dominic Cooke.
The newlywed stars on their honeymoon were both anxious virgins. The new wife was Florence Ponting, a talented and ambitious violinist, and the new husband was Edward Mayhew. I remember my grand mother talking about the dangers of sex before marriage, but who discussed the terror of sexual intimacy after marriage?
Saoirse Ronan and Billy Howle, the young stars of Chesil Beach
I assumed “Chesil Beach” was a fanciful location for the film's honeymoon hotel .. because I had never heard the name outside McEwan's novel. Now it turns out that the 18 miles of protected pebble beach along the Dorset coast is real. And famous! What an appropriate and moody location for a brief marriage that ended after a night of disastrous non-sex. Florence and Edward Mayhew, who came from different backgrounds, had an idyllic courtship. But they never got to consummate their marriage, breaking up in tears before doing the deed.
Saoirse Ronan (born 1994) was an inspired Florence, daughter of a wealthy but icy cold family. The Irish actress knew how to express an innocence and repression, while remaining outwardly charming. The actress herself explained that she had been too young to read McEwan’s book when it had first been released. She was also too young to deal with this very intimate topic and acknowledged that it had to be told in a delicate way. Perhaps Ronan didn’t even know about the societal pressure that could accompany physical intimacy back in 1962.
Theatre actor Billy Howle (born 1989) played a character whose working class father was a teacher, while his mother was damaged in an accident; their home was more informal and closer to nature than Florence’s posher background. Edward was a recent university graduate (in history) and had decided to become an author.
Saoirse Ronan (born 1994) was an inspired Florence, daughter of a wealthy but icy cold family. The Irish actress knew how to express an innocence and repression, while remaining outwardly charming. The actress herself explained that she had been too young to read McEwan’s book when it had first been released. She was also too young to deal with this very intimate topic and acknowledged that it had to be told in a delicate way. Perhaps Ronan didn’t even know about the societal pressure that could accompany physical intimacy back in 1962.
Theatre actor Billy Howle (born 1989) played a character whose working class father was a teacher, while his mother was damaged in an accident; their home was more informal and closer to nature than Florence’s posher background. Edward was a recent university graduate (in history) and had decided to become an author.
Looking down from Abbotsbury Hill onto Chesil Beach, Dorset
Photo credit: The Guardian
Transmission gives a synopsis with extra information that I could not have elucidated myself. It was a gripping, heart-rending account of a loving relationship battered by outside forces and influences first formed in childhood, in a society with inflexible rules about uniformity & respectability. They married as virgins: two very different people, but deeply in love. Only hours after their wedding they found themselves at their dull, formal honeymoon hotel on the Dorset coast at Chesil Beach. They dined in their room, and their conversation became stilted and nervous.
Transmission gives a synopsis with extra information that I could not have elucidated myself. It was a gripping, heart-rending account of a loving relationship battered by outside forces and influences first formed in childhood, in a society with inflexible rules about uniformity & respectability. They married as virgins: two very different people, but deeply in love. Only hours after their wedding they found themselves at their dull, formal honeymoon hotel on the Dorset coast at Chesil Beach. They dined in their room, and their conversation became stilted and nervous.
The consummation of their marriage was fast approaching, and while Edward welcomed the prospect of sexual intimacy, Florence was scared by it. The tension between them boiled over into a heated argument as Florence tried to repel Edward’s advances. She dashed from the room, out of the hotel and on to Chesil Beach, with Edward in pursuit. On a remote part of the beach they had a blazing argument about the profound differences between them. One of them made a startling decision that would have life-long consequences for them both.
But as often happened in the film world, it took a long time for the book to make the transition to the big screen. Yet producer Elizabeth Karlsen had been interested in a film adaptation of the beautifully written novel, even before the On Chesil Beach book was first published.
She noted the simplicity of narrative and the clarity of emotion that was already visible. Finding Dominic Cooke, one of Britain’s most eminent theatre directors, Artistic Director at the Royal Court and Associate Director at the National Theatre, was inspired. Cooke was impressed by how the film conveyed the importance of how people talk, or don’t talk about sex, and how people are affected by their upbringings.
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In 2008, after weeks of concentrating on the job at hand, I created a list of my most loved novels. If I was asked to re-create a favourite list a decade later, it probably would not be very different. But I would certainly have included an Ian McEwan novel or two.
And yes, great books can be made into very good films!
But as often happened in the film world, it took a long time for the book to make the transition to the big screen. Yet producer Elizabeth Karlsen had been interested in a film adaptation of the beautifully written novel, even before the On Chesil Beach book was first published.
She noted the simplicity of narrative and the clarity of emotion that was already visible. Finding Dominic Cooke, one of Britain’s most eminent theatre directors, Artistic Director at the Royal Court and Associate Director at the National Theatre, was inspired. Cooke was impressed by how the film conveyed the importance of how people talk, or don’t talk about sex, and how people are affected by their upbringings.
Ian McEwan and some of his most famous novels,
Wall St JournalIn 2008, after weeks of concentrating on the job at hand, I created a list of my most loved novels. If I was asked to re-create a favourite list a decade later, it probably would not be very different. But I would certainly have included an Ian McEwan novel or two.
And yes, great books can be made into very good films!