Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan Shine in 'Ammonite'
The 2020 film Ammonite is written and directed by Francis Lee and features a strong ensemble cast who perform the miracle of expressing emotion tempered with restraint, doing a lot with few words. It is a film about passion that is for the most part understated, with the eloquent palette and use of natural scenery and weather that characterized Lee’s God’s Own Country (2017). It reunites Gemma Jones and Kate Winslet in their first mother-daughter roles since the Oscar-nominated 1995 film Sense and Sensibility. James McArdle and Saoirse Ronan (Little Women) both starred in 2018's Mary Queen of Scots , and McArdle also appeared in recent HBO hit Mare of Easttown with Winslet. This fertile cross-pollination pays off in the ensemble acting, with brilliant performances by both Winslet and Ronan in the lead roles.
Lee does not even try to persuade the viewer that paleontologist Mary Anning (1799–1847) needed a love affair to round out her life (thank goodness). Instead, it’s a subtle, careful exploration of intimacy, work, and love.
The cinematography is gorgeous, from the fierce Dorset winds and tides to the interior shots of the Annings’ house, which have the richness and detail of a Dutch 17th-century interior. A ladybug explores a botanical print; we watch Mary (Winslet) and her mother (Jones) perform everyday household tasks; and Mary searches, cleans, and prepares fossils for sale, detailed and painstaking skilled work.
