July 27th 2025
Four Letters of Love
Companion (streaming on Amazon Prime)
Two totally different films for your consideration this week. One old-style poetic romance, and one romance of a quite different sort, bordering on horrific!
Four Letters of Love
Dir: Polly Steele
Length: 125 mins
Are people ever made for each other? Fated to be together? If this love story has anything to say about it, definitely! Based upon Niall Williams' much-loved novel, the tale is set in Ireland, where Nicolas (Fionn O'Shea) and Isabel (Ann Skelly) are going about their separate lives. In voice-over narration from Nicolas, we hear how his father William (Pearce Brosnan) one day had a sign from God that he should leave his boring job and become a painter. Meantime Isabel, beloved daughter of teacher/poet Muiris (Gabriel Byrne) and Margaret (Helena Bonham Carter) is sent to boarding school from which she is expelled after playing truant with local lad and charmer Peader (Ferdia Walsh Peelo). As the lives of Nicolas and Isabel go their separate ways, gradually fate (in the form of poems, letters and a painting) will lead their paths towards each other. This the sort of film some critics love to hate. Yes there are some flaws - the over use of voice-over, the difficulty of transposing the lyrical world of poetry to the screen, and the overt sentimentality, but there is also so much to enjoy here. The top-rate cast fit their roles perfectly, the stunning Irish countryside is showcased in all its glory, and the many love stories, including those of the parents, are warm and embracing. So, whether you are a hopeless romantic or a confirmed cycnic may determine your response to this film. I think I'm in the former camp.
3.5- well recommended
Companion
Dir: Drew Hancock
Length: 97 mins
Streaming on Amazon Prime
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Warner Bros - love in the modern era |
4- highly recommended
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