4 Pics Of Dakota Fanning In The Period Drama 'Effie'

News

by Ryan Gowland
June 8, 2012 9:37 AM
5 Comments

For a while there last year, it looked like Emma Thompson's script for the film "Effie" was never going to reach production. The film is based on the true love affair between Victorian artist, architect, poet and political thinker John Ruskin and his wife, Effie Gray, and the mysterious circumstances over why their marriage was never consummated, leaving Effie a virgin until she remarried Ruskin's protege, painter John Everett Millais. While Thompson assuredly has her own take as to why Ruskin suddenly became disgusted with his wife, playwright Gregory Murphy felt Thompson's script was too close to his 1999 play "The Countess," and sued for copyright infringement in February of last year. The end result was a delay in production, with Saoirse Ronan ultimately departing the project and being replaced by Dakota Fanning prior to a fall start.

First look photos of the film have finally arrived online, though they mostly show Fanning in various forms of Victorian dress. Not shown in the photos is Thompson's husband Greg Wise as Ruskin, or Tom Sturridge as Millais, though Thompson is revealed as Lady Eastlake, the art historian and critic who was one of Effie's confidantes.

"Effie" was directed by Richard Laxton ("An Englishman In New York"), and the Victorian setting and intriguing story seem right up Thompson's alley, considering her past work on "Sense and Sensibility." It'll also be good to see Fanning in something other than a "Twilight" movie. We anticipate that more of "Effie" will be revealed soon...a Venice Film Festival premiere perhaps? [Kino poisk]

News

More: Effie, Dakota Fanning, Emma Thompson

5 Comments

| Reply
Mel_M | June 12, 2012 5:14 PMReply

I think Emma Thompson is a good bet for a screenplay: after all, she won an Academy Award for her "Sense and Sensibility."

As for what to expect, the author of a recent Effie biography, Suzanne Fagence Cooper, wrote: "Her life reads like a novel, full of colour, sensation, despair, and romance." So, if the movie is done well, I expect this to be, by far, Dakota's best movie yet and a huge opportunity for her transition to adult roles; there's nothing teenish about Effie.

In the Aug 16, 2011 "Deadline New York" announcement of "Effie," the article mentioned that the filmmakers hoped for a premiere at the 2012 Venice Film Festival (Aug 29 - Sept 8). According to the official website, "The line-up of the Festival will be announced during the official press conference to take place in Rome at the end of July 2012." The only release date showing at IMDb is October for the UK.
Pallavi | June 9, 2012 6:15 AMReply

Yes, her posture looks bad but I think the movie is going to be good.
Al | June 8, 2012 5:24 PMReply

ERM: You're not alone pal;)
Erm | June 8, 2012 3:47 PMReply

Is it me or her posture is awful? Specially for a period piece like Effie.
Lee | June 8, 2012 11:05 AMReply

great dresses!