Hemingway and Gellhorn

This HBO biopoc centers on the relationship between Ernest Hemingway and Martha Gellhorn. Gellhorn was a magazine writer for Collier's in the late thirties and early forties, this being the time when magazine writers for these magazines were well known.

Meeting in Spain during the Spanish Civil War when she was writing for Colliers and Hemingway was gaining inspiration for what became his novel For Whom the Bell Tolls. Hemingway at the time was married but that did not prevent them from falling together. Over the next few years there relationship was one of fire. They covered the war in Spain, then the war in China. Later after they were married and with their relationship fracturing Hemingway got himself hired with Collier's, essentially taking his wife, Gellhorn's, job. Eventually Gellhorn stowed away on a medical ship and beat Hemingway to the front.

The relationship between the two is interesting, and I clearly love the writing of Hemingway but for me the stronger appeal of the movie was the scenes with the characters in Spain, China, the beaches of France and later in Germany.

Spain, always an interesting story for me. The communists were the freedom fighters, the fascists were helped by Franco and yet clearly the Americans were ambivalent at best about the outcome of the war. When Hemingway and Gellhorn met with Eleanor and later Franklin Roosevelt to extoll the cause of the freedom fighters they were believed to be fellow travelers.

The downside of this movie for me were the sex scenes. Clive Owen did a fine job as Hemingway. Nicole Kidman is attractive but some of these scenes were over the top. We are made to understand that the relationship is fiery and passionate, that they fight as hard as they love. I do not know that seeing Owen thrusting and Kidman naked is necessary. I am not a prude I just thought it was a little gratuitous.

The cast is stellar. Robert Duvall gives a magnificent performance as a Russian General, and Parker Posey plays Hemingway's soon to be divorced wife.

Watching the movie, one of Hemingway's cronies, Joris reminded me of the drummer from Metallica. That is what I said to myself, the dog, whoever was in the room. After the movie I looked it up and saw that it was Lars Ulrich. I had no idea that he acted.

Other notables in the movie Tony Shalhoub, Joan Chen As Madame Chiang ( a small but stunning performance) and Peter Coyote.

Worth ones time, wonderfully filmed. The problem is not with the movie, it was what it purported to be, I wanted it to be less about the relationship and more about the life and history they touched. Still a good movie