The Newlyn School of artists flourished at the beginning of the 20th Century and the film focuses on the wild and bohemian Lamorna Group, which included Alfred Munnings and Laura and Harold Knight. The incendiary anti-Modernist Munnings, now regarded as one of Britain's most sought-after artists, is at the centre of the complex love triangle, involving aspiring artist Florence Carter-Wood and Gilbert Evans, the land agent in charge of the Lamorna Valley estate. True - and deeply moving - the story is played out against the timeless beauty of the Cornish coast, in the approaching shadow of The Great War.
Compared with the tepid contretemps of "Summer in February," the soap-opera theatrics of "Downton Abbey" have the depth of Chekhov.
– Stephen Holden,
New York Times,
16 Jan 2014
rotten:
Cooper stomps around ineffectually, Stevens makes for a blandly tame suitor, and Browning is unable to ignite any chemistry with either. The scenery is stunning. But the swooning has all the heat of a midwinter's swim.
– Elizabeth Weitzman,
New York Daily News,
16 Jan 2014
rotten:
A ceaselessly bland take on the famed Lamorna artists' colony in Cornwall, circa 1911.
– John Oursler,
Village Voice,
14 Jan 2014
rotten:
Blah Britpic offers scenery but little else.
– John DeFore,
Hollywood Reporter,
14 Jan 2014
rotten:
A poor script and patchy performances drag down this Edwardian-era drama.