What I think about films, TV and celebs!
The Seagull is one of Anton Chekhov’s most famous plays and it has been adapted many times, so I feel ashamed to say that I’ve never seen a version of it, on stage or screen, so I couldn’t possibly vouch for how this new take, directed by Michael Mayer and adapted by Stephen Karam, holds up against others.
In the film adaptation of On Chesil Beach, Saoirse Ronan plays a character who is terrified of consummating her marriage to her new husband Edward (Billy Howle) and the film examines what that means for their disastrous wedding night.
Naturally, for a movie called On Chesil Beach, the filmmakers wanted to shoot on the actual Chesil Beach, particularly a long shingle outcrop surrounded by water on all sides, in Dorset. It may have looked cool on screen, but it was practically very difficult.
I am a huge Saoirse Ronan fan so I will check her out in anything, but On Chesil Beach was also appealing to me because I like adaptations of Ian McEwan novels like Atonement and Enduring Love. This certainly isn’t as emotionally gruelling as Atonement, but the leads put in tremendous performances.
