The Invisible Woman - Review A

Charles Dickens was the greatest writer in the world. His greatest story was the one he could never tell.

With Fiennes at the forefront of the screen, this biographical drama depicts the private life of the public figure, Mr. Charles Dickens. Although ‘The Invisible Woman’ markets itself as the story of Charles Dickens and his secret lover this is not his story, but his mistress’, Nelly Ternan (Felicity Jones). It is the tale of her unstable path from girlhood to womanhood, and the obsession she faces with a married man who could never have loved her the way he loved his fame.

The greater part of this film plays out in a flashback; the narrative oscillates between Nelly’s world, centred on Dickens and her world after his death. Between lengthy scenes that highlight the key changes in their precarious relationship, we find adult Nelly dressed in black and marching along the beaches of Margate, turning her head to catch the sounds of the waves she recognises from his favourite writing, tormented by loss in her mind where time does not threaten her attempts at finding closure. Though the pace is somewhat disjointed in places, the audience is given a credible and wanton display of conflicted passion between the lovers throughout their capricious affair.

Despite a marginally slow start, The Invisible Woman is beautifully crafted, with stunning performances, cinematography and scenes that make the heart tremble in realisation that through love, two human creatures may know each other.

Review by: Elizabeth Wylie