Chichester Cinema at New Park
Angel
Angel, the only daughter of her widowed greengrocer mother, dreams of becoming an author at the turn of the 19th century, spending all her time writing and dreaming of living in Paradise House, a nearby mansion.
She abhors her mother’s simple life and carries herself with (what she imagines) to be the air of an aristocrat, and she might just have the determination to make her dreams come true. In adapting Elizabeth Taylor’s 1957 semi-satirical novel about the life of a romantic novelist, François Ozon’s first English speaking film has brought the melodrama and intrigue to the big screen.
The visuals have a lush and slightly surreal feel – the cinematic equivalent of prose that is slightly on the purple side. Costumes particularly are gorgeous and detailed, especially in the case of Angel (Romola Garal), who gets progressively more eccentric and ostentatious as her star rises.
Sets, too, are lovely and immersive. As period pieces go, Angel is atypical. It’s not a tale about lovely dresses and horse riding and cocktail parties and balls – as much as its protagonist would like it to be. It’s a far more personal tale about people and ambition, fantasy, love and necessity. And it tells the story of an extraordinary person in an extraordinary way.
UK · 
Belgium · 
France · 2007 · François Ozon · 135min
