Fräulein Julie (2014)

Fräulein Julie: Directed by Liv Ullmann. With Samantha Morton, Jessica Chastain, Colin Farrell, Nora McMenamy. Over the course of a midsummer night in Fermanagh in 1890, an unsettled daughter of the Anglo-Irish aristocracy encourages her father’s valet to seduce her.

“I had never seen her be this loud, this unabashedly theatrical. But, the character calls for it, and it all somehow works. Farrell doesnu0026#39;t have to go as big, and yet heu0026#39;s the one that comes across as unconvincing. The film only really comes alive when it gives Chastain the space to be as loud as humanly possible. Itu0026#39;s not a terrible film, but it just seems like an excuse for such powerhouse acting showcasing, and in that respect itu0026#39;s tremendously glorious to witness Chastainu0026#39;s work. It couldu0026#39;ve easily gone off the rails with many actresses, but she still manages to surprise me in what she can achieve. Again, it worked for me, but it wonu0026#39;t for everyone. Several people will absolutely loathe her (really, any performance of this nature is bound to) but I can honestly say she is probably better here than in Rigby, if only because the material allows it. In that way itu0026#39;s a hard performance to analyze, itu0026#39;s basically u0026quot;here, watch Chastain ACT!u0026quot; without really caring if we get the character. But it worked for the 2 hours, mostly.”