Effie Gray

Interesting film looking at the life of Effie Grey and her marriage to John Ruskin.

It was interesting to see this film only a couple of days after seeing Mr Turner as Ruskin and Effie feature in that as well. I thought his was a good picture of the art world at this time. I loved the Royal Academy dinner and I thought Emma Thompson was majestic as Lady Eastlake.

I would have liked a bit more about the Pre-Raphaelite’s as a group as although they appeared there was no real sense of their revolutionary effect and quite how bold Ruskin was to support them. I would have also liked more about Effie’s later life with Millais.. As it was it ended almost abruptly with Effie leaving Ruskin. I would have liked some idea of how the annulment worked, was there a court case? Even a note on the credits would have given some closure to the movie.

My major gripe though was using Ophelia on the poster! The film does not imply that Effie modelled for Ophelia and does refer to Millais having painted it. I guess they are using the picture as a metaphor for a woman who felt she was drowning.  However I did think the poster had that implication that this was Effie and any metaphors were a bit too subtle if you didn’t see the film. Call me an art pedant if you will!