The setting of the novel isn’t pin-pointed exactly, and director Sam Michell also wanted to be deliberately vague the film takes place in the 1840s somewhere in Wessex, where those moody grey and green sweeping vistas almost become another character, especially when contrasted with the sun-drenched Italian hills. The film follows the plot of the book closely. He never finds any proof, however, and both reader and viewer are left to sort through the evidence of actions, statements, and the viewpoint of an unreliable narrator. But towards the end, when he also falls ill of fever, he is convinced that Rachel is poisoning him. His guardian cautions him against both extremes, but Philip is extremely passionate and headstrong. He soon loves her at much as he had earlier hated her, and presses upon her all matters of wealth and comfort. But when she arrives to stay, he finds himself enchanted, at first against his will. Philip leaves immediately, but arrives too late–Ambrose is dead of a brain tumor (which could explain the paranoia), and Rachel has already departed.
He rails against Rachel, claiming she watches him, calling her his “torment” and begging Philip to join him. His first letters reveal a man head over heels, but soon turn darker. He travels to the warm climes of Italy for his health, and while there meets and falls for a distant cousin, Rachel. Ambrose is somewhat shy, and that has made him misogynistic.
Philip Ashley is orphaned at a young age and raised by his cousin, Ambrose, in a male-only household. I love her books, and have seen the movies, so I welcomed the chance to compare this latest cinematic version of a classic novel. The narrator asks of Rachel, “Did she or didn’t she?” and both the actress Rachel Weisz, who plays the title role in the film, and the author of the book, Daphne du Maurier, refuse to answer.ĭaphne du Maurier was famous for gothic dramas/romances, her best known probably being Rebecca and The Birds, both made into films by Alfred Hitchcock. In both the book and the film (released last Friday), My Cousin Rachel contains an unreliable narrator, a dark romance of sorts, and an enigmatic and ambiguous heroine who may or may not be poisoning two men.
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