Review: The Children Act
When we first meet Judge Fiona May (Emma Thompson), she is perched behind the bench of her London courtroom and delivering her judgment on a controversial case of conjoined twins, both of whom will die if they remain attached. Yet it is also a kind of murder were they to be separated for one of them will surely die. Though the logic of the lesser evil is clear, she invokes the 1989 Act of Parliament from which the film gets its title, stating that the court "is a court of law, not morals."
Yet on the homefront, it appears a case of morals, not law. Her husband Jack (Stanley Tucci) announces that he wants to have an affair. They haven't had sex for a long time and they're more siblings than romantic partners, he argues. She counters that if he does this, then it's the end of their 20-year marriage. Jack rejoins that he loves her, he does not want to divorce her, but he is going to have this affair. Which is better? For both partners to be unhappy so that the marriage can survive, or a life together in which one sacrifices one's dignity for the sake of the other's happiness?
With barely a respite from these personal and professional earthquakes, Fiona is called upon to preside over a case involving a 17-year-old Jehovah's Witness named Adam (Fionn Whitehead), who is dying of leukaemia but is refusing treatment as it would violate his religion. As he is regarded as a minor in the eyes of the law, it is up to Fiona to decide his fate. Unusually, she goes to the hospital to meet Adam in order to suss out if his refusal is out of his own volition or if he is simply mirroring his parents' beliefs. Though she finds him to be an exceptional young man whose beliefs are very much his own, "the child's welfare shall be the court's paramount consideration," and she rules that Adam must be protected from his religion and himself. Life is more important than one's dignity, she believes and rules for the treatment to proceed.
Their brief encounter, during which they sang "Down by the Salley Gardens" together, sparks something in Adam who, once fully recovered, begins to leave her messages and sends her poems and letters. Whitehead, who made his feature film debut in Dunkirk, truly is a special find. His Adam is pure of spirit yet puppyish in the way lovesick teenagers can be - he may be mature and intelligent, but he's still in the midst of formation, a point of fact which Fiona significantly fails to grasp. Whitehead and Thompson's scenes together are the heart and soul of the film, and the two wring many a wrenching moment from the characters' dilemma.
Director Richard Eyre imbues the film with a cool and precise elegance that highlights the sophisticated intelligence in Ian McEwan's adaptation of his own novel. It shouldn't be so refreshing to come upon a film that concerns itself with love, emotional intimacy and moral responsibility, yet it is for not many films do. Then there is Emma Thompson, who is nothing less than magnificent as the woman constantly conflicted between her head and her heart. Hers is a deeply felt and ultimately heartbreaking portrayal that should easily rank amongst her finest.
The Children Act
Directed by: Richard Eyre
Written by: Ian McEwan; based on his novel
Starring: Emma Thompson, Stanley Tucci, Ben Chaplin, Fionn Whitehead, Jason Watkins, Nikki Amuka-Bird
