Dance with a Stranger (Widescreen): Amazon.ca: DVD: DVD

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On July 13, 1955, Ruth Ellis became the last woman to be hanged in England. With a smart, tough little script by Shelagh Delaney, Mike Newell's noir-ish film is a dissection of the human frustration and complex class issues surrounding her crime. Miranda Richardson, looking like some delicious, chilled confection, plays Ellis, the hostess to a "glorified brothel" who plans for a better life with her young son until she meets David Blakely (a young, gorgeous Rupert Everett), the wealthy ne'er-do-well whose fitful attentions chip away her armor. Their vicious attraction and its constant tug-of-war lose some dramatic pull as the story heads toward its inevitable climax, but Richardson's performance holds your attention. She plays the entire film in a kind of stunned ardor, a feisty little animal caught in the headlights of Everett's sullen magnetism. By the time she's plugging bullets into his body, she's already hit you a few time with her heated, fatal despair. --Steve Wiecking

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Customer Reviews

8 Reviews

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Average Customer Review

4.9 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Oscar Worthy Performance By Miranda Richardson, Oct 19 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Dance with a Stranger (Widescreen) (DVD)

This is as good a cinimatic portrait of a factual homocide as I've seen since In Cold Blood, the infamous Truman Capote nonfiction novel, starring alleged murderer Robert Blake. Miranda Richardson is rivoting, her performance superlative, as she plunges deep into the depths of depair and self pity. Her portrayal of the attention starved and insecure Ruth Ellis is deeply inspired. How? I ask myself with each repeated viewing of this movie, could such a finely crafted flim be overlooked , almost ignored.

Noteworthy as well is the fine performance delivered by Rupert Everett, as David Blakley, Ellis's part-time lover and object of obsession. And, of course the brilliant direction of Mike Newell, who creates perfection in almost a Hitchcockian way. His vision gives this movie the tention, the edgeiness, the underlying danger and the oh so real atmosphere, as to absolutely suck you into the dark seedy, lustful world of an obsessed and scorned woman.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Cinematic Masterpiece You must See, July 17 2003

By

Milo "gjm" (Eastern Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dance with a Stranger (Widescreen) (DVD)

If there is one problem with Dance With a Stranger it has to be that inevitably one becomes so mesmerized with the performance of Miranda Richardson there is a danger of missing the other performances. The nuances of her character's brittle emotions are perfectly pitched with the arch of penciled eyebrows, the tightening of blood-red lips, and the lisp of her tense voice. A total victim of her own weakness she is drawn into an emotionally and physically abusive relationship, but is powerless to escape. Even under the wing of a man who truly loves her, she throws his devotion aside in a reckless and indeed masochistic spiral. In Richardson's potrayal Ruth Ellis seems almost to crave the violence and mercurial passion, watch her eyes and face as Blakely hits her. The movie drips ambience, wonderfully creating the London nightclub scene in the early 50's. Costumes and makeup are impeccable. Superlative performances from Ian Holm and Rupert Everett, and indeed all members of the cast. Mike Newell has taken a wonderful slice of an evocative era and portrayed a tragedy that we must hope, could never have reached such an awful conclusion today. Breathtaking.

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5.0 out of 5 stars DEATH AT THE TOP., Feb 26 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Dance with a Stranger (Widescreen) (DVD)

A WORTHY sister to Susan Hayward's "I Want to Live" both based on fact, this scorching look at 'fatal attraction' across the Class line will stay with you for a long long time.

Depressing? Of course! MIRANDA RICHARDSON as the much abused real life Ruth Ellis glistens in the sultry expose of 'Life Reaching for the Top' - you just cannot take your eyes off this woman as she battles through this hellish liason with the upper-class David [another brilliant turn by Rupert Everett].

One almost applauds when she is driven to the inevitable conclusion of the affair, but it gets even worse ..... Yes, it's a shocking ride though this mangled life.

This IS the versatile and highly gifted Ms. Richardson's movie.

Other viewings? "Tom and Viv", "Enchanted April", "Damage".

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5.0 out of 5 stars Some dance to remember.
Before Brit director Mike Newell became famous for rom-coms starring Hugh Grant, he directed this intense little masterpiece called *Dance with a Stranger*, based on the... Read more

Published on Jun 10 2003