“On Chesil Beach” examines the idea that you can be truly, madly, deeply in love someone, yet you cannot make love to that someone. Ian McEwan, who had previously written the novel “Atonement”, takes this idea to a sad conclusion in his screenplay – based on his short novel of the same name. Set in the early sixties in England, a young couple is enamored with each other, yet a happy marriage is not to be. England is still closer to the Victorian Age than it is to the Free Love Swingin’ Sixties. At least, it is for these two…
Edward Mayhew (Billy Howle) is a young college graduate in 1962, and he is ready to take on the world. But he is looked on as a commoner, with a father who is school administrator and a mother who is not all there. His family is not rich and well-regarded. So when Edward meets Florence Ponting (Saoirse Ronan), he becomes smitten with her good looks and charm. She has family ties into money and prestige, but Florence is not concerned with such things. They have a long courting period to see if they are compatible in personality and demeanor.
The one thing that they did not check into is whether they had a problem with physical intimacy. It is not until after the marriage ceremony and at the honeymoon suite do they find troubled waters in the sea of love. Florence has always been uncomfortable with physical touch, and she might have been abused by her father. Edward is unsure of the proper rate with which he should take Florence into the tunnel of love, because his past experience is.. none. He is pretty reserved when it comes to sexuality, but Florence is a big, fat Frigidaire freezer.
They go to honeymoon at a nice hotel near Chesil Beach. After an awkward dinner the two lovebirds shoo away the waiters from the room. Then they get to the main business, of having major flashbacks to they story of them meeting, and the courtship and the final decision to marry. But when the time is right to do the horizontal mambo, neither one is prepared for the farce that is their attempt at making love. Florence becomes incredibly upset at Edward and storms out of the room. For Edward, nothing went right and his paratroopers missed the landing zone. His embarrassment and her shame take an event that should solidify the marriage and it gets turned to a gallows on which the marriage is taken out and hung.
The two are at odds from this point on, based on misunderstandings and lack of knowledge. He finds her out on Chesil Beach, where she has walked in an effort to get away. But neither one knows what the other is thinking. They just assume that the marriage will never have another chance to be consummated. They can find no possible way to put this one incident behind them, and it changes the direction of their lives.
Florence has a string quartet that she leads, and she will put all of her time into that. Edward will do whatever he can do to get by. But then some tacked-on ending which brings Edward and Florence out of 1962 and into 1975, and then into 2007 just changes the mood. It goes from being “On Chesil Beach” to a reverse mirror of “On Golden Pond”. But in this case, the old-age make-up looks awful and pulls you out of the touching, yet tragic, story that has just transpired.
This movie has created another vehicle in which Saoirse Ronan can use to display her incredible acting skills. Billy Howle is also top-notch in his performance, being an equal to Ronan. But the story has such a roundabout method of getting to the moment of truth that some audience members might walk away like Edward – unfulfilled.
In the Phoenix area. opens at the Camelview in Scottsdale
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