MRS. DALLOWAY

Marleen Gorris' (Antonia's Line”) latest film is a rich adaptation of Virginia Woolf's classic novel, set in 1923, which follows a single day in the life of the elegant wife of an MP, Clarissa Dalloway, as she prepares to give a dazzling party. Luminous as ever, Vanessa Redgrave gives a brilliant performance as a woman who has lived a life of financial and emotional security, but reflects on how life could have been had she chosen passion in her youth. In wistful flashbacks – full of the emotional excesses and sudden despair of youth – she fondly recalls her former suitors, including hte wild and passionate Peter, whom she rejected in favor of her future husband, because she could not deal with the enormity of his emotion. Two events dramatically change Clarissa's future on this special day. Peter returns from years in India, reminding her of what might have been had she dared. And she hears about the suicide of a shell-shocked young acquaintance. Profoundly moved by his death, she admires him for making such a gesture. – Vancouver International Film Festival.