Another Life (2001) User Reviews

Doomed lovers

[jotix100 · 7/10 · 6 December 2010]

A notorious case in the England of th 1910s that made headlines for the sensational of the story is recreated in "Another Life", which takes a look at Edith Thompson and Fred Bywaters, middle class citizens, whose crime resonated at the time it happened.

The beautiful Edith Graydon, meets and marries Percy Thompson, who was deeply in love with her. Soon after their wedding, it became apparent he was not the man for her. Edith was an ambitious young woman who went to work at a millinery shop, becoming a valuable assistant to Mr. Carlton, a man that gave her an opportunity to excel. At the same time, Edith met, and eventually fell in love with Fred Bywaters, a dashing sailor, that proved to be the lover she craved for. Her life changed radically because of the heat their passion generated.

Unfortunately, divorce in those years was something taboo for the society she was living. Fred started out being the boyfriend of her sister Avis. Complicating things WWI begins and Percy dodges going into the service, something that did not play well in Edith's eyes. Fred and Edith fantasized getting rid of the man that stood in their happiness, something that Edith paid dearly for her actions, when Fred killed the obstacle that was in his way to get Edith for himself.

Philip Goodhew shows talent as he sets this historical drama which was a shocking incident in Britain when it happened. Mr. Goodhew wrote the screen treatment of the case, which gets a good treatment, as it keeps the viewer interested in the notorious crime. The film conveys the sense of prejudice of the era in which it takes place. Poor Edith pays too dearly a price for her getting a no win situation, something that perhaps today, with a good lawyer she would have been able to beat the punishment she received.

Natasha Little gives a strong performance as the woman at the center of the action. Ioan Gfuffudd makes a good case of Fred Bywaters, but it is Nick Moran, playing Percy, who really surprises in an underplayed role that gets the viewer's attention. Also in the cast, wonderful Tom Wilkinson and Imelda Staunton in supporting roles.

Simon Archer, a man who works a lot in television, is the director of photography. The film score is by James McConnel. Ultimately, all credit must go to Philip Goodhew for bringing this story to the screen, as he is non judgmental, presenting the case as it probably happened in real life.

Edwardian England ?

[tonyhenderson56 · 7/10 · 31 March 2007]

There are a few references throughout the reviews to ' Edwardian England' . As Edward the Seventh died in 1910, thus ending the Edwardian Age and as Edith and her husband didn't marry until 1916 ,these are obviously misleading .It is more a picture of English society undergoing a social transformation after the War , in the so-called 'roaring 20's '.

As to the film , it had very solid performances from all concerned although I felt that the conclusion (especially the trial scenes ) was rather too rushed . I always find Ms Little a magical screen presence .Her ability to play confident but vulnerable women is particularly suited to the role .

Evocative but anticlimactic

[joachimokeefe · 6/10 · 24 July 2005]

It's sort of good to hear the Ilford accent represented in film, and this production is dressed and dramatised beautifully. There are no slouches among the cast either, Imelda Staunton and the two sisters being particularly convincing. Ioan Griffith too gives jolly good antihero. (SPOILER) So it's a shame that this film really just crashes to a halt. Maybe it's the stage origin, or the ultimate banality of the actual crime - which is what, fifteen years coming? - World War One seemed to last all of three minutes. Another Life is performance led, and these are top class, but the obscenity of the merciless convictions is done too fast. It's just not tragic enough, in spite of Natasha Little's redefinition of the cliché execution scene. Somewhere among the period detail, emancipation of women and general air of repressed sexuality this movie loses its focus on who's actually the villain; is it the abused but spoilt Edith, or pathetic Percy the husband? How come Freddy Bywaters suddenly goes postal? Or is it just Edwardian society (strangely thinly populated, but hey, it's low budget) being dragged into the twentieth century? (Big-ups to Elizabeth McKechinie as the Mother-in-Law from Hades at this point). If you enjoy atmospheric old British second features like This Happy Breed, It Always Rains on Sunday, or the more modern Scandal, you'll enjoy Another Life, a dependable British period drama which will stand repeat viewing. But it won't thrill you all the way to the end.

A Victim of Victorian Backlash

[theowinthrop · 15 November 2004]

I hope to see this film one day. I don't even recall it being released in the U.S.

The Thompson - Bywaters Case of 1922 - 23 was one of the great disgraces of British Justice. Edith Thompson was accused of instigating her boyfriend, Frederick Bywaters, in stabbing her husband Percy on a street in London at night. To his credit, Frederick denied her involvement - he claimed he killed Percy for mistreating Edith. Unfortunately for Edith (a woman with a big imagination) letters she wrote to Bywaters were preserved by him, and they suggested that she had tried to poison Percy on several occasions. Problem was that the crown pathologist, Sir Bernard Spilsbury, never found traces of the so-called poisons. The solution by the prosecution: ignore Sir Bernard (normally trotted out at every major criminal prosecution at the time) and concentrate on the evidence that Edith and Frederic were committing adultery. Although ably defended by Sir Henry Curtis Bennett, Edith made the mistake of going into the witness box, and she suddenly panicked inside it. It sank whatever chances she had. The jury found her and Frederick guilty, and they were executed.

The judge at the trial, Mr. Justice Shearman, had been junior to Edward Marshall Hall in defending the notorious wife murderer George Joseph Smith, and yet he made comments about how sickened he was by Ms Thompson - more sick than at any other killer he came across. The prosecutor was Sir Thomas Inskip. Whatever one says of his ability in railroading Mrs. Thompson, Inskip would mis-serve his country in the late 1930s when he purposely slowed down the rearmament programs of the Baldwin and Chamberlain governments in the face of growing Nazi aggression. These two were the defenders of English hearth and home in this case.

The play A PIN TO SEE A PEEP SHOW is based on a novel by F. Tennyson Jesse, an noted criminal historian (and descendant of the poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson). It is a retelling of the Thompson tragedy.

good British movie .. about.. Adultery ALWAYS ends bad.

[afterdarkpak · 7/10 · 31 July 2020]

Good performance, good production quality . even Plot is not that new, its same as most typical domestic relationship problems.

there are some drawbacks n little flaws but its ok because its early 2000 movie.

a jolly british girl marries her bf , which she likes him in start but later, the marriage is passionless, (especially sex n feelings). so later wife gets acquaintance her young sister ONE TIME bf, he is handsome also better job than husband. later she falls for him , and she fall hard. Even she sarcastically insulted husband at lunch or dinner about his job. thats really bad example of wife.

the affairs continues , but anyhow , cheating /adultery is bad thing , which this movie shows perfectly in the end.

----------------spoilers------------------

As the movie based in true story , i think its kinda little harsh but really good punishment , as Wife cheated and she actually feeds hate n violence in terms of imagination to her lover. so basically she is guilty. she could divorce husband n go for another guy . but early 90s , family dont want divorce so she stuck. british people..pfff.

A story worth telling

[politik-69932 · 7/10 · 9 November 2019]

A true story captured in this Edwardian staged drama

portrays Edwardian London well and views of women at that time who were becoming more liberal in their views and thoughts. Sadly, it appears that Edith was wrongfully accused, based on the biased views of the legal system in those times. She was a bright and forward thinking young woman and the world was just not quite ready for her. Nicely filmed and memorable

Botched

[malcolmgsw · 4/10 · 2 August 2021]

This could have been an interesting film. Instead of which three quarters of this film is devoted to a rather routine situation and only the last quarter to the trial. It would have been far more interesting to see why the jury came to their guilty verdict. Instead of which aolmost as soon as she is arrested she is in the dock and then the death cell. The film is far too long and quite dull in parts.

Excellent Ensemble Acting

[mohunl · 8/10 · 1 June 2000]

An excellent British Cast in a film bafflingly overlooked at Cannes. Natasha Little in particular deserves the highest praise for the emotional range of her acting. In fact the whole cast gelled exceptionally well in a film that encompassed touches of light humour and extreme emotional pain.

Costume, set design and make up painstakingly recreated the era of the 20's and 30's. A modern day tragedy.

UGH!

[AttyTude0 · 1/10 · 30 April 2019]

I bloody well HATED this mess of a film. Slow, stupid, melodramatic in the shrillest and most tasteless fashion. Everybody in it is a crashing bore. Edith and, what's his name ... oh, you know, her lover ... are the most unlikeable people I ever had to endure. We're to think Edith is an original, imaginative woman, but she merely comes off as flighty, silly, tiresome and annoying. As for Nick Moran's and Ioan Gruffud's acting, the less said, the better. I couldn't care less whether the lovers were guilty or not. I just wanted the two wretches to be put out of their misery. And mine.

Anyway. Watch this dud, if you absolutely must. But, as Dante said on a similar occasion: 'Abandon all hope ...' and all that.

We Pay the Price for Flights of Fancy

[howdymax · 8/10 · 15 February 2006]

This is an interesting picture for several reasons. It is primarily a tale of jealousy and murder, but there is virtually no blood. English mysteries are like that. The film forces you to follow the story in order to understand it. You will have no choice but to develop conflicting feelings about the protagonist.

Edie is the younger daughter of a typical English family at the turn of the century. Unlike her parents, younger brother, and older sister, she is what we might describe as a free spirit. She is extremely intelligent. She smokes, she drinks, she plays the coquette with boys, and she eventually lures a hapless weakling into marrying her by providing him with outrageous sex before marriage. This marriage sets the scene for the murder mystery to come. She comes to despise her husband Percy after dallying with a family friend. Her affair with Fred becomes obvious to her husband, her Mum and Dad, and her sister Avis (who is also in love with Fred). Edie doesn't care. Free spirits are willing to leave a trail of broken hearts in their paths.

The story is often told in the first person, and it's this introspection that gives us insight into her character and creates the mixed emotions we have about her. Is she just a self centered dreamer with no thought for the pain she causes those around her? Or is she a calculating narcissist who is willing to sacrifice anything or anyone who gets her way. Is Fred the driving force in this tragedy, or is he just a tool she uses to get what she wants? We come away from this movie wondering, and that is what makes it worth watching.

Simply awful.

[rlesses · 1/10 · 10 July 2021]

Words cannot describe how awful this movie is. From the beginning to the end, repetitious, miserable, stupid and beyond belief.

Period film - not quite Edwardian

[jacqueestorozynski · 22 June 2014]

I was interested to see this film as a relative of mine shared a flat with one of the Thompson family and my family remember the case as we came from the same area. Another connection is that I was an extra on the film. The clothes we had to wear weren't Edwardian at all it was definitely twenties. The film seems to have vanished and having searched on Amazon I found it is on DVD so I am looking forward to seeing it at last. As it was made in 2001 I would like to know where it has been hiding all this time. In the court scenes that I was in Natasha Little and Ioan Gruffudd were excellent. It seems a shame that it didn't publicised further because it definitely should have been seen far and wide.

Ruined by sound track

[lucilleiacovelli · 1/10 · 17 December 2009]

The sound track virtually destroyed a great film. Cast and

and acting are brilliant. However, the music is enough to turn a great film into a farce. I had to force myself to watch it through to the end.

Very unfortunate. Music absolutely awful. I would have preferred reading subtitles to a silent version of this film rather than the inane music which accompanies it. Compositions in the sound track make a mockery of the music of the time period.

This is a sad instance where everything great about a film has been negatively overcome by a single elemental factor.. the "music". If you can get past that, or better yet, if you can read the lips of the actors, the acting, visuals and story are interesting.. but the music is so awful it distracts one's attention from the positive elements of the film.

What were the makers of this film thinking with that SOUNDTRACK???

Watching it is punishment

[ahmet1004 · 1/10 · 13 January 2023]

What most don't understand is just because a movie is about love and romance, does not make it good.

The characters were cold, calculated, and the love story in it is an affair between two amoral people. The woman is cheating on her husband, and her lover is a sneaky half-wit. She manipulates him and he killed the husband. Guess who gets the blame for that merciless murder: the husband.

I was not expecting car chases, explosions, or action at all. The film was about two bad people, and how one big bad thing keeps them away from something they want. In film, you could cheer for the villains when they're the protagonist, but when they're not interesting, it's quite difficult. On top of that, it was just an all around boring movie.

Something is not quite working...

[everest67 · 2/10 · 28 August 2003]

Performances are fine but there is something that is not quite working and I caught myself wondering away a few times during the film. Good reconstruction of the middle class edwardian England and different to see in compare of nobility and high class that is usually portrayed in edwardian stories. Applause to Little for the variety of emotions but Ioan Gruffudd is focused and passionate, giving a certain rhythm that is often generally lacking.

Quite Moving

[Ninsun · 5 November 2004]

I remember watching a 70's TV film called A Pin To See The Peep Show based on this case, starring Francesca Annis. At least I'm fairly sure they were about the same case. Oddly enough when you look up APTSTPS on IMDb it recommends that you watch a Doctor Who Special. Now as much as I love Doctor Who I can see no comparison!!! Anyway, I would love to watch that again to compare the two productions.

All in all I thought this one was superbly acted by all involved, but especially by Natasha Little. The props and sets seemed authentic enough. I would have preferred if they had included more of the actual trial and less of the build up to it. But all in all well worth watching.

What on earth did I just try to watch

[lopezpatricia-06139 · 1/10 · 18 April 2021]

Unwatchable because the aspect ratio was 4:3 and it had been shot on videotape making the quality such like an 80s tv drama. It was not an opulent period drama but a cheap tv episode. Because of the ratio all the actors looked like the egg head aliens. Creepy and cheap. Wishy washy videotape and silly soundtrack.

Odd Film and Yes She Was In On It

[Mehki_Girl · 5/10 · 21 June 2021]

Don't know why people are so up in arms that she didn't do it. Of course she did. She wrote about wanting him dead. It's very common for women to get someone else to do their killing for them - she was no different. I guess because she was white and upperclass and in some minds that somehow absolves her. Nope. She wrote about it to the boyfriend and the boyfriend killed her husband. Somehow murder is better than the scandal of a divorce. Really twisted thinking, but quite a few murders have happened to avoid the "shame" of a divorce. Nothing to see here, except a white woman was punished for the coldbloodedf murder. Oh the horrors!

The movie was odd. It started off almost whimsical.

Could have been a lot better.

[sarah-fiddlesticks · 4/10 · 2 October 2008]

First, a comment. Edith was the eldest sister in the family. Let's start with a truth. So, finally I got around to watching this film and it took me quite by surprise. For I had previously read some reviews which were, perhaps not necessarily positive. However, I had reservations, mostly about the many technical inaccuracies of so many parts of it. (Far too many to go into) However, bringing the immensely sad story of Edith, Percy and Freddy to the big screen was done with sensitivity.

I am pleased to count as one of my friends, Professor Rene Weis, who wrote Criminal Justice, Edith's life history, and our aim is one of justice, to eventually force the government to offer a posthumous pardon to Edith. To this end, we work very hard. Even eighty-five years after her death.

It therefore quite astonished me that Rene was not mentioned or thanked in the end titles. Certain details in the film clearly showed that the writer/director had read his book and that saddened me.

However, I have to thank him for bringing this subject to a wider audience. If you seen, Let him have it or Dance with a Stranger, similar types of British film (an execution at the end) they were done so much better. Better actors I think. And music. And screenplay. Anyway, seen it at last. I think it must be very difficult to write a great screenplay.

Molly Cutpurse