Review of Hemingway & Gellhorn (2012) by Narges M — 19 Jun 2012

This is a movie primarily about Martha Gellhorn, war correspondent, who also happened to be Ernest Hemingway's third wife. Martha states in the movie that she does not see herself as a footnote in someone else's life.

Perhaps this movie will help to remedy that reality. The movie follows the romantic and married life of Hemingway and Gellhorn from the time they fell in love during the Spanish Civil War, until the end of their marriage in Cuba during WWII.

This movie portrays Martha as a remarkably courageous, determined woman and a fierce trailblazer in a male-dominated profession. As many biographies have already revealed, Hemingway was a troubled man, given to fits of violence, bouts of depression, and great passion that could quickly turn to unrepentant meanness.

In this movie, as in the biographies, Gellhorn is shown to be Hemingway's greatest inspiration and greatest rival. The movie is long, feels long, as if the filmmakers felt a responsibility to cover everything.

And of course, being a Philip Kaufman movie, there are some great sex scenes. Nicole Kidman rightly steals the show as the movie progresses. Clive Owen is an actor I've never really warmed to. I think he captures Hemingway well enough though at times seems a bit cartoonish.

In the end, Martha Gellhorn is the subject and the hero of the film, which could be titled "Surviving Ernest Hemingway".