WHAT MAISIE KNEW
To begin with, an apology: I’ve not done my homework. The original novel by Henry James remains unread (I’ve already walked myself to the corner and put on a conical hat). The truth is that The Turn Of The Screw scared me to death and put me off Henry James’s books for life. James, however, is a master of getting inside a child’s head (however terrifying), an attribute shared by Scott McGehee and David Siegel, the directors behind this adaptation.
Their star, Onata Aprile, also shines. As Maisie, she possesses both the steady expression of an old soul and the joy of a, well, small child.
Maisie is the six-year-old product of two monstrous egos: rock diva Susanna (Julianne Moore, flexing her bitch muscles) and art dealer Beale (Steve Coogan, who is on something of a dramatic roll at the moment). They live free and easily in a huge and artsy New York home, with Maisie clad in cool clothes and sporting the sort of fringe that looks imposed, rather than chosen.
When they break up, however, Maisie doesn’t so much become a pawn in their poisonous exchanges, as a doll to be picked up and put down according to their every whim.
Susanna covers Maisie in kisses and exhortations of love with all the frenzy of someone who has just adopted a cat, but she is utterly careless. There were gasps from the audience at some of her actions – or inactions. Interestingly, the traits that make her great fun are also those that make her a terrible parent.
Beale is no better, selfishly leaving the country for long stretches, but in possession of the sort of total Dad charm that keeps a child hooked. It is painful, but brilliantly done.
The only constant in Maisie’s life, her sweet Glaswegian nanny Margo (Joanna Vanderham), soon falls prey to the parents, too, when she marries Beale.
Not to be outdone, Susanna retaliates by marrying barman Lincoln (True Blood’s Alexander Skarsgård, lovely in so many ways) and then using him as glorified childcare. When both new relationships start to unravel, Maisie’s life becomes even more precarious, culminating in a scene of such breathtaking selfishness and stupidity that my jaw gathered lint off the cinema carpet.
A film about selfish people being terrible parents might not sound like cinema gold, but What Maisie Knew is truly wonderful. This is a beautiful, cleverly shot film that plays out like a Wes Anderson film without the cynicism. There are many films about horrible people that feel like an enormous waste of your time. This isn’t one of them.
