Film - Review - Iris (From Western Telegraph)

Film - Review - Iris

Iris Director: Richard Eyre Starring: Dame Judi Dench, Jim Broadbent, Kate Winslet, Hugh Bonneville (Cert 15, 90 mins)

It may seem overly cynical to say, but some films just have award season written all over them. In the category for film most likely to win an award this year, the award goes to Iris! Iris is a kind of biopic of the novelist Iris Murdoch. She was struck down by Alzheimers later in life, having become one of the most acclaimed novelists of the 20th century.

To see anyone struck down by the vicious creep of a debilitating illness is tragic. Ailments that seem to strike at the particular gift of somebody particularly gifted is even more cruel. Such stories highlight the nature of our existence and shadow our triumphs with a reminder of how fragile we are. This is, of course, true of Iris Murdoch. It is all the more harrowing to see someone of considerable intellect, whose brain is the tool of their trade, gradually damaged by a disease like Alzheimers.

In this film by the acclaimed British director Richard Eyre, the title role is taken by both Dame Judi Dench and by Kate Winslet. The story focuses on the relationship between Iris Murdoch and her husband John Bayley. Iris tells the story of the relationship in later life where Judi Dench plays the Iris who is nursed by John Bayley, played brilliantly by Jim Broadbent. Every so often though we are taken back in time to the earlier days of their love affair when Kate Winslet coaxes the shy and stammering John Bayley (now played by Hugh Bonneville) into showing the passion they shared through their lives together.

The four actors are fantastic, and in their performance, the easy flow of Eyres direction makes this heavy material become light and surprisingly watchable. It is, of course, marred by The Titanic effect which Ive mentioned before (whatever the story, in the end theres a big iceberg waiting for you.) This has no happy ending on the next reel. Apart from that, Iris is as interesting and beautifully crafted a piece of film-making about a relationship as ever you'll see. For that, the talk of Oscars is justified. However, I thought Iris didnt really do justice to the subject matter. The film fails to address the cruel indignity of Alzheimers blighting Murdochs writing career.

It is possible that large portions of the audience will not have heard of Iris Murdoch and having seen this film theyll know nothing more about what she actually did for a living. That seems a shame. All that is subjective, though, and if you dont miss the true biopic information I wanted to see, which I think would have added to the strength of the story, you may well love this delicate love story.