neumu [ cinematronic ]




	Iris
	Richard Eyre Judi Dench, Jim Broadbent, Kate Winslet, Hugh Bonneville 2001		Heartbreaking bio-pic about the brilliant British author and libertine Iris Murdoch and her devoted husband John Bayley, who had to nurse her, late in life, when Alzheimer's disease eroded her fierce intellect. The film is based on Bayley's memoirs of his lifelong love affair with Murdoch; director Richard Eyre shifts back and forth between sequences of Murdoch and Bayley in their youth and in their senior years. There's the couple's initial encounter, Bayley's infatuation, Murdoch's rising fame, her sexual dalliances outside of their relationship, their eventual shift into a comfortable, mature companionship, and her mental decline. Kate Winslet ("Quills") is the fierce young Iris, and a match in intensity for Judi Dench ("Chocolat") as the elder Iris, who vacillates from clarity to confusion; Hugh Bonneville is remarkable as shy, gentle Bayley in his salad days, while venerable Jim Broadbent ("Moulin Rouge") is magnificent as the aged Bayley, desperate to hold on to the love of his life.