Enduring Love (2004)

From the novel by Ian McEwan. Play write Joe Penhall adapted the source material loosely, a lot of changes are made from the novel but its all in service of the greater theme which must have attracted him to the work (this being Penhall's first screenplay he would later adapt The Road). Like Kubrick or Preminger Penhall took what he liked from his source material and largely adapted it as an examination of the theme from the book in which he was most interested, in this case the nature of love.

The movie starts with a spectacularly staged accident in which a hot air balloon with a man and his grandson briefly lites upon a country meadow, only to be pushed back up by a gust of wind the grandson still inside. A number of passersby converge on the balloon and try to help, as the balloon begins to rise again all but one of the men let go, that man later falls to his death. The movie then follows how a number of figures who witnessed the accident cope, and the profound effect it has on there lives.

Daniel Criag is a university professor (though its hard to grasp precisely what he is a professor of) who obsesses over the incident and pushes live in girlfriend Samantha Morton away. This is all made more complicated by the presence of Rhys Ifans a lonely man who develops de Clerambault's syndrome a stressed induced erotic obsession with Craig. Craig views Rhys at first as a mear nuisance and becomes more and more concerned as time goes on, and for good reason. Yet his own obsessions with the accident and Rhys increasing intrusions on his life are making Craig into an unpleasant man and straining his relationships. Craig's Darwin conceptions of love, Morton's romantic, and Rhy's religiously tinged all come into play in this examination of what exactly love is.

Director Roger Michell, perhaps best known for his romantic comedies, might seem a bit of an odd chose for this piece, but he works. In fact the whole direction is fascinating, the choices made, some unusual shots like those that encompass two rooms at once through doors, or the concentration on mundane activities such as eating, this all adds to something, the sense of being on an unstable brink. The whole film is an excellent mode piece with mounting almost tangibly uncomfortable pressure building. I'm a fan of McEwan's book and am happy to say this movie was up to its task, and in fact even exceeds the book in its creepiness.

Grade: A-