Another Life
Directed byPhilip Goodhew
Written byPhilip Goodhew
Produced byChris Craib
Lora Fox Gamble
StarringNatasha Little
Nick Moran
Ioan Gruffudd
Imelda Staunton
CinematographySimon Archer
Edited byJamie Trevill
Music byJames McConnel
Release date
  • 1 February 2001 (2001-02-01) (Singapore)
Running time
101 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Another Life is a 2001 British crime film written and directed by Philip Goodhew. It stars Ioan Gruffudd, Natasha Little, Nick Moran, Imelda Staunton, Rachael Stirling and Tom Wilkinson.

Plot summary

Chiefly set in London during the First World War and in the early 1920s (primarily 1921 and 1922), the film concerns a daydreaming young woman, Edith Graydon (Little), who attracts, then marries, an ordinary shipping clerk, Percy Thompson (Moran), who reminds her of a character in books. Later, Edith carries on an affair with Frederick Bywaters (Gruffudd), a young merchant seaman and childhood friend of her younger brother. The Thompsons' marriage had been a failure for years when Edith became reacquainted with Bywaters, who by then was dating Avis (Stirling), Edith's younger sister. Over the course of their tempestuous affair, Edith writes to Bywaters during his extended absences at sea about her growing boredom and frustration with the dull Percy, who has grown jealous and violent at times.

The letters burst with Edith's vivid imagination, including her hopes for a romantic future with Bywaters and her alleged attempts to kill her husband through feeding him glass and poisons. Edith's fantasy-driven promises to leave Percy stir Bywaters to a frenzy; he also resents the way Percy deprecates and even injures Edith. Finally, Bywaters attacks Percy with a knife, as the couple walk home from the theatre. The resulting trial and conviction of the lovers creates a sensation across Britain, as Edith maintains her innocence of any part in her husband's murder. Her letters paint a different picture, despite Bywaters' insistence he acted alone and impulsively. Despite a massive number of signatures on a petition protesting against Edith's death sentence, the lovers hang on the same day. To the end, Edith conjures up dreams of her sentence being commuted to life imprisonment, so her captors must sedate and carry her off to the scaffold.

Background

Freddy Bywaters, Edith Thompson, Percy Thompson, photographed in 1921

The plot is based on the true story of Edith Thompson and Frederick Bywaters of a prominent 1920s adultery–murder case, in which the pair of lovers were convicted of murdering Edith Thompson's husband. It was widely believed at the time that Thompson was innocent, but was nevertheless hanged for her alleged involvement in the crime.[1] The case was especially noted as, on the day of her execution, Thompson became hysterical and had to be sedated, and she was carried by prison officers to the gallows. Rumours abounded that she was pregnant, that her internal organs fell out of her body when she was hanged, and that the experience contributed to the resignation and eventual suicide of her executioner, John Ellis.[2]

Cast

Critical reception

Unlike Philip Goodhew's earlier film, Intimate Relations (1996 film), Another Life was relatively poorly received by critics.[1] Writing in Variety, Derek Elley noted a strong cast but felt that the script and direction were inconsistent in quality. He considered that the picture was subject to a "stiffness" typical of the period drama genre, but sensed that Goodhew had greater ambitions, with the result that the film felt "like a much bigger picture trapped in a small frame".[3] The Guardian critic Peter Bradshaw described it as a "spruce, neatly furnished and nicely acted true-life crime story" but also found it to be "a flesh-creeping domestic thriller with hints of grisly black comedy", and praised Kit Hesketh-Harvey's period songs.[4]

The film review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes indicates 43% approval rating based on over 100 reviews with an overall rating of 3/5.[5]

References

  1. 1 2 Murphy, Robert (25 July 2019). Directors in British and Irish Cinema: A Reference Companion. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 240. ISBN 978-1-83871-533-5. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  2. ↑ Seal, Lizzie (5 March 2014). Capital Punishment in Twentieth-Century Britain: Audience, Justice, Memory. Routledge. pp. 123–134. ISBN 978-1-136-25072-9.
  3. ↑ Elley, Derek (20 June 2001). "Another Life". Variety. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  4. ↑ Bradshaw, Peter (15 June 2001). "Another Life". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  5. ↑ Another Life at Rotten Tomatoes
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