Elegy Review

Cast: Penelope Cruz, Ben Kingsley, Peter Sarsgaard, Dennis Hopper, Patricia Clarkson, Deborah Harry
Director: Isabel Coixet
Screenplay: Nicholas Meyer (screenplay), Philip Roth (novel)
Genre: Drama
Rated: M Sex scenes, sexual references and coarse language
Running Time: 113 Minutes

Synopsis:
Driven by Isabel Coixet's (My Life Without Me) visually assured and deeply observant direction, Elegy charts the passionate relationship between a celebrated New York college professor, David Kepesh (Kingsley) and a young Cuban-born woman, Consuela Castillo (Cruz) whose beauty both ravishes and destabilises him. As their intimate connection transforms them - more than either could imagine - a charged sexual contest evolves into an indelible love story. With humanistic warmth, wry wit and erotic intensity Elegy explores the power of beauty to blind, to reveal and to transform. With extraordinary performances by Academy Award winner Ben Kingsley and Penelope Cruz, the film is based on Pulitzer Prize-winner Philip Roth's short novel "The Dying Animal."

My Verdict:
Literature professor David Kepesh (Ben Kingsley) narrates his take on woman during the opening scenes in Elegy. He reveals his confident existence until one of his students, Consuela Castillo (Peneplope Cruz), overwhelms him with an attraction he has never felt to this degree. Castillo too is drawn to Kepesh, keeping an intimate relationship out of bounds until their teacher/student relationship ends. Kepesh hosts an annual party to mark the end of the course and it is here that he makes his move on Castillo. Elegy follows the course of their relationship, and the reactions of others connected to Kepesh and Castillo.

Ben Kingsley is simply superb as David Kepesh, playing him with such restraint and poise. He is a man who struggles with any form of commitment, having a long-term semi-formal relationship with Carolyn (wonderful Patricia Clarkson), a strained relationship with his medico son Kenny (Peter Sarsgaard) and saving his honesty for forthright friend George (Dennis Hopper, brilliant in a role that is a departure from his often eccentric villains). Kingsley unequivocally captures the vulnerability of a man as he reaches crisis points and his mortality is tested. Likewise, Penelope Cruz is strong, beautiful and confident as Consuela. She knows she has age on her side against Kepesh, yet the attraction is magnetising until it becomes possessive on his part, pushing her to confront him. The honesty of all the characters as they interact makes some scenes almost voyeuristic. A scene where Kepesh wants to ask his son for help is agonising as he self-consciously struggles to realise he actually needs his son, another when George is faced with a health crisis almost becomes excruciating with the tension.

Subtly and delicately directed by Isabel Coixet, Elegy is a sincere and emotional study of human frailty and human strength. Warm and encompassing, it might be lacking energy for some who could find the events too slow to unfold, but they do take place over the course of a few years. Ultimately, Elegy is a well-measured drama with outstanding performances that creates a satisfying emotional experience.

Rating : ****

Christina Bruce