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Based on John Bayley’s highly acclaimed memoirs Elegy For Iris and Iris and Her Friends, “Iris” is a portrayal of the life of his late wife, Dame Iris Murdoch.
Murdoch was a highly influential and well-respected Irish born author, poet and philosopher best known for writing more than two dozen books. She believed there was only one freedom of any consequence: the freedom of the mind.
The movie is told in two separate, simultaneous timelines. Starring Kate Winslet and Hugh Bonneville as the younger versions and Judi Dench and Jim Broadbent, the film explores both Iris and John’s original wooing during their Oxford days and Iris’ eventual decline.
This intelligent and moving film was adapted for the screen by Richard Eyre and Charles Wood (whose credits go back to “The Knack” and “Help!”), the film is also directed by Eyre. One of England’s most prized theater directors, Eyre has rarely directed films, but has directed many plays adapted for television. The film manages to capture Bayley’s observations about the horror of watching someone you love slowly lose their mind to Alzheimers and also the delight he took in caring for her.
“They were like two halves of an apple.” That’s how actress Judi Dench describes the relationship between novelist Iris Murdoch and critic John Bayley detailed in “Iris.” Somehow both pairs of actors manage to convey their 40-year-plus relationship in an intimate and sincere fashion.
Broadbent, who was so wild as Harold Zidler in last year’s “Moulin Rouge,” gives an especially amazing performance as John – the awkward professor who tries his best to keep up and take care of Iris throughout their lives together.
The film’s only fault is Dench’s portrayal of the deteriorating Iris. While masterful, it is too hurried. We are robbed of the chance to see a fuller portrayal of the true horror of her descent from brilliance to vacancy.
When balanced by younger Iris’ brazen zest for life and sparkling mind, this deterioration is even more brutal. In one scene during the couples’ initial courting, Iris investigates his rooms at school. He nervously states that “having women in my room is not permitted,” to which Winslet elegantly retorts, “I wouldn’t say you’ve had me, exactly.”
Broadbent, Dench and Winslet were all nominated for Academy Awards for their work on this film, and odds are Dench will take another Oscar for her stunning depiction of life battling Alzheimer’s.
Hopefully Broadbent and Winselt will also be rewarded for their supporting roles in this touching film.
This intimate and heartbreaking tale of timeless romance will make even the harder-edged individuals in the audience shed a few tears. Bring plenty of tissue and a romantic mindset.
