Film Review: Four Quartets (2022) Dir. Sophie Fiennes
Film Still of Four Quartets © Kino Lorber
Written by Belle McIntyre
The challenge of writing about a film which is wholly based on the poetic words of one of the great wordsmiths of our time was a lot to overcome. Then there was the fact that the film is a solo performance of a stage play on an almost bare set with its actor wearing baggy trousers, a short-sleeved shirt and bare feet. However, when the wordsmith is T.S. Eliot and the actor is Ralph Fiennes, it becomes a master class.
Film Still of Four Quartets © Kino Lorber
Film Still of Four Quartets © Kino Lorber
The genesis of this unlikely hybrid started with Fiennes determination during Covid pandemic to commit to memory all of the four poems of Eliot which make up the Four Quartets. Having accomplished that, he went on to perform it on various London stages to great acclaim. His sister, Sophie took on the task of directing and editing and adapting it for film and much credit goes to her. The somber-colored back drops are beautifully evocative as the lights selectively illuminate and shift colors creating mood changes which underline the tenor of the words and keep the set fully engaging throughout the whole performance. There are some inserts of footage of natural settings which correspond with the spoken words. Fiennes the performer executes some fascinating physical movements which he manages to make look very organic.
Film Still of Four Quartets © Kino Lorber
Film Still of Four Quartets © Kino Lorber
Since I cannot presume to critique the words of the Nobel Prize winning poet, you will have to settle for more general information which I would hope might move you to either read it or see this film. The first of the quartet – Burnt Norton was written in 1936. The next three — East Coker, The Dry Salvages and Little Giddings — were written during WWII and first published together as The Quartet in 1943. There is so much eloquence, reflection, dazzling revelations, and earnest questioning about who we are in relation to humanity, the world and God. It is as if Eliot is asking questions which all of humanity must have had but did not know how to put into words. It feels as if Eliot has written for all of us and Fiennes has spoken for all of us. Hats off!!
Film Still of Four Quartets © Kino Lorber
