Review of W.E. (2011) by Nick T — 29 Jan 2012

This film is not so much about Wallis Simpson and King Edwardâ??s VIII, but about Wally Winthrop a modern day woman going through problems in her marriage.

She becomes obsessed about Wallis and Edward visiting the Sothebyâ??s auction repetitively as she perceives their relationship to be ultimate love story due to tha fact that he abdicated the British throne for the woman he loved.

The parts about W&E are clearly not historically accurate but more like a fantasy version imagined by Wally, not completly romantic as she mainly questions what they must have gone through and what it would have been like for them.

I really enjoyed the film, it's not perfect but I'd definatly recommend it to anyone wanting to see an interesting film about a woman's journey (not though her whole life but a difficult part of it).

It's been very miss marketed, mainly by Madonna herself, who only seemed to comment about the Wallis and Edward part of the story in interviews.

I much preferred the modern day parts of the film beacuse I found the subjects of obsession and adult fantasy more engaging subject than Wallis and Edward. However that historical part was interesting enough to leave me more interested than I thought it would.

The fact that the film was directed by Madonna did make the costumes and soundtrack making the film flow like a music video in parts but it never distracted from the story. If anything it will probably make the film more re-watchable.

The real surprise is just how personal to Madonna the film is. Apart from co-writing it and directing it you can see Madonna basically was the Wally character while making the movie. This adds a whole nother dimension to the film as fans probably follow Madonna the way she researched Wallis Simpson. Looking at it like this, the scene where Wallis slaps Wally acros the face and says something like 'Wake the fuck up, this is not a fairy tail' as revealing to Madonna's life now as In Bed With Madonna was at the time of it's release. Note that The film was Madonna's first project after her marriage to Director Guy Richie ended. The experience was clearly a difficult time and while Wallis and Edward also went through tough moments in th media spotlight the film ends on a positive note questioning true love for all characters.

So if you find Madonna interesting I think you would find this film more interesting also and if your an actual Madonna fan then you'd actually be left looking forward to her directing again especially if she concentrates on personal emotions to her rather than historical accuracy.