Sony Classics has premiered the first trailer for The Invisible Woman starring and directed by Ralph Fiennes as Charles Dickens alongside Felicity Jones in the titular role as a woman named Nelly, mistress to Dickens, telling the story of their relationship.
I saw The Invisible Woman at the Toronto Film Festival last month and, for the most part, enjoyed it. There are a few problems here and there, but I quite enjoyed Fiennes and Joanna Scanlan as Dickens’ wife, and Jones absolutely nails her role.
In my review I wrote:
Adapted from Claire Tomalin‘s book by Abi Morgan (Shame), this is an elegantly told story with some wonderful performances. Yet, for everything that’s right about the film Fiennes has a tendency to linger on a scene or moment until all the air is sucked out of it and his approach is so traditional, following what almost seems like the “Paint by Numbers” book on period pieces, the film doesn’t really have an identity of its own. This doesn’t make it bad per se, but it does prevent it from rising up and being something truly outstanding.
You can read the full review right here and I’ve added the official synopsis beneath the trailer below.
The Invisible Woman is set to hit New York and Los Angeles theaters on December 25, obviously hoping for a little Oscar attention.
Nelly (Felicity Jones), a happily-married mother and schoolteacher, is haunted by her past. Her memories, provoked by remorse and guilt, go back in time to follow the story of her relationship with Charles Dickens (Ralph Fiennes), with whom she discovered an exciting but fragile complicity. Dickens — famous, controlling and emotionally isolated within his success — falls for Nelly, who comes from a family of actors. The theatre is a vital arena for Dickens, a brilliant amateur actor and a man more emotionally coherent on the page and on stage than in life. As Nelly becomes Dickens’ muse and the focus of his passion, for both of them secrecy is the price — and for Nelly a life of “invisibility”.
