*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*
Although Ammonite focuses on two real life individuals, the story that details their developing romantic relationship is fictional and written by Lee. Following the success of his previous film, God’s Own Country, which was released in 2017, which was critically acclaimed, Lee continues to impress with his skills as a storyteller and, with Ammonite, he has created a engrossing drama. A lot of romantic relationships in films feel forced and rushed, fortunately, that isn’t the case with Ammonite. Lee makes sure to develop the characters and allows the viewers to get to know them before developing their relationship. In the beginning, Mary is a serious and antisocial palaeontologist whose only interest is in rocks and spends most of her time at the beach looking for and studying them. However, her life is changed by the arrival of Charlotte, who is sent by her husband to convalesce by the sea. Despite the chasm between their social spheres and personalities, Mary and Charlotte discover that they can each offer what the other has been searching for: the realisation that they’re not alone. This leads to them having a passionate love affair that defies all social bounds and alter the course of both lives irrevocably. I can’t imagine those who enjoyed God’s Own Country being disappointed with what Lee has created with Ammonite as both are compelling romantic dramas.
The strength of Ammonite, unsurprisingly, lie in the committed performance delivered by Winslet and Ronan. As Mary Anning, Winslet captures her character’s serious personality. Although she isn’t the most likeable of individuals, Mary is fascinating to watch. Winslet meticulously transformed herself in order to portray Mary, even altering the way she walked. Because of this, when she arrived on set out of character, Lee didn’t recognise her. Although Ronan has delivered better performances, as Charlotte, she leaves a lasting impression. Her personality is a complete contrast to Mary’s as she is lively and more charismatic. At first, because Mary is enjoying her own company, she isn’t interested in Charlotte, however, she quickly warms to her. Both Winslet and Ronan share chemistry and capture their characters’ passionate feelings for one another. Their sex scene is explicit with both actress not shying away from revealing their naked bodies. While a lot of sex scenes feel awkward and cringe worthy, the sequence that focuses on Mary and Charlotte making love for the first time is powerful and effectively the intimacy between the couple.
Because Ammonite is a period drama that focuses on a homosexual relationship between two women, it is frequently compared to Céline Sciamma‘s Portrait of a Lady on Fire, which was released in 2019. Those expecting Ammonite to be just as powerful as Portrait will be disappointed. I think it’s best not to compare the two as both Lee and Sciamma are filmmakers with different intentions. Portrait is a fascinating character study whereas Ammonite is more of a fictional love story between two real life individuals. Because I hadn’t seen Portrait when I first watched Ammonite last year, I wasn’t thinking of the former whilst watching the latter. However, after watching Portrait, the similarities between the two films are obvious.
Although I found Ammonite to be a compelling drama for the majority of its 112 minute runtime with passionate performances by Winslet and Ronan, when I first watched it at the London Film Festival, I was left disappointed as it wasn’t as great as it could have been. The pacing issues made it a struggle to watch, especially in the beginning and towards the end. Prior to watching it, I thought that Ammonite could potentially be nominated at this year’s Academy Awards. Unfortunately, it was overlooked. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s a bad film. Ammonite is still entirely worth watching for Winslet and Ronan and for those who enjoy romantic dramas.
7/10
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