A Quiet Passion is Terence Davies’ biographical drama detailing the life of Emily Dickinson her loves, her struggles and her magnificent poetry. Shot in Belgium and Massachusetts, A Quiet Passion paints a sympathetic but far from idealistic portrait of one of America’s greatest poets.
A Quiet Passion is a 2016 biographical film directed and written by Terence Davies about the life of American poet Emily Dickinson. The film stars Cynthia Nixon as the reclusive poet. It co-stars Emma Bell as young Dickinson, Jennifer Ehle, Duncan Duff and Keith Carradine.
Terence Davies, the British director whose lyrical films include Of Time and the City and Distant Voices, Still Lives, announced the project at the Toronto film festival in 2012, saying he had written it with Nixon in mind, but without knowing if she would sign on for it. “It was the kind of dream casting you hope for. I never, for a moment, imagined my wishes would materialise. Cynthia has such a strong feeling for the work – and now she is our Emily Dickinson. I’m over the moon,” he said.
Cynthia Nixon, best known for playing Miranda in Sex and the City, said: “When I read what Terence had written, I was consumed by the character he had so beautifully put on the page. Emily Dickinson’s words and Terence’s somehow dovetail to create a heady elixir. When I put the script down, I knew it was a story that I simply have to be part of.”
Dickinson’s poetry is now widely admired for its lucidity, mysticism and torrid energy, but was little read in her lifetime. Only a dozen of around 1,800 poems were published while she was alive, and even her family were unaware of the extent of her work. Born in Amherst, Massachussetts in 1830, she lived in the town for much of her life – often quite reclusively, but had passionate correspondence with a number of close acquaintances.
A Quiet Passion (2017)
Directed by: Terence Davies
Starring: Cynthia Nixon, Jennifer Ehle, Duncan Duff, Keith Carradine, Jodhi May, Joanna Bacon, Catherine Bailey, Emma Bell, Annette Badland, Rose Williams, Yasmin Dewilde, Verona Verbakel
Screenplay by: Terence Davies
Production Design by: Merijn Sep
Cinematography by: Florian Hoffmeister
Film Editing by: Pia Di Ciaula
Costume Design by: Catherine Marchand
Set Decoration by: Ilse Willocx
Art Direction by: Manolito Glas
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for thematic elements, disturbing images and brief suggestive material.
Distributed by: Music Box Films
Release Date: April 14, 2017
