"A Quiet Passion"

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Once upon a time, I used to love writing poetry. It was a way for me to express myself, but not necessarily share it with the world. I guess you could say it was my quiet passion. My favorite poet was Emily Dickinson. While her poems are overall melancholy, I admired her gift for expressing herself so deeply in so few words. To this day, she remains one of my favorite poets.

Recently, someone told me about a new, or fairly new movie about Emily Dickinson. I was intrigued, so did some internet research and found more than one movie and even a television show about her life. The one that stood out to me the most is the subject of this review, "A Quiet Passion". I watched the trailer, read the reviews, and decided I had to watch this movie. To my delight, it is streaming on tubi.

The movie spans almost forty years of the life of Emily Dickinson, from young adulthood until her death. It's hard to believe a two hour movie can do almost four decades justice, but "A Quiet Passion" does just that. Although Emily Dickinson's character is played by two different actresses (Emma Bell and Cynthia Nixon) to represent different phases of her life, the transition is seamless. The same is true for each main character.

I don't think I realized in my teenage years how troubled she was, but over time I've learned more about her. "A Quiet Passion" illustrates this impeccably. She had her own views and those views did not always conform to the norm. As a result, she had trouble fitting in, even with those close to her. But she loved her family dearly. And they loved her. These conflicting emotions were deeply felt in the movie. The flow of the movie is effortless from beginning to end and the emotions felt through the two hours are strong. There were also moments when I could relate to her, so I was able to empathize in some small way.

Like John Keats, Emily Dickinson's poetry was not well-known until after her death. Almost two thousand of her poems were discovered by her sister, Lavinia, and four years after Emily Dickinson's death, those poems were published. Only ten of Emily Dickinson's poems were published in her lifetime. "A Quiet Passion" is indeed an appropriate title for this film. Nobody knew she had written so many.

Speaking of Emily Dickinson's sister, in this movie, Lavinia was played by none other than Jennifer Ehle. Ehle played Elizabeth Bennet in the 1995 "Pride and Prejudice" mini series. She was wonderful as both characters.

And that's a wrap on National Poetry Month. I'm so glad I found out about this movie and that I watched it. It's a great way to honor the work of a wonderful poet.