All is fair in love and war

“Everything in the world is about sex except sex. Sex is about power” Oscar Wilde

Ben Wheatley’s Rebecca is beautifully filmed with some stand out performances but does not delve completely into the darker centre of Du Maurier’s classic novel. At its heart, Rebecca is a haunting and evocative story about jealousy, insecurity, and power. Wheatley has said that his version is based on the novel and should not be compared to Alfred Hitchcock’s Oscar-winning adaption. Comparing adaptations with original texts is tricky, but what is vital is that film adaptations-or any adaptation for that matter- encapsulate the spirit of the original text. Lily James assuredly conveys the insecurity and jealousy that causes her to unravel when confronted with Manderley and the spectre of Rebecca.

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Although the novel is full of drama, not much action takes place. It is full of the narrator’s inner monologues which reveal her insecurity as well as her sense of fantasy and speculation. This creates an unstable and haunting story because the reader can not entirely trust the narrator and her version of events. The film shows the obsessive nature of jealousy and how this threatens to destroy her relationship.  The narrator’s jealousy stems from her own inferiority and feelings of inadequacy in comparison to Rebecca who had “breeding, beauty, brains”. She becomes consumed with her own fears and the notion that Maxim is still in love with Rebecca.  She has reason to be suspicious as there exists a chasm between her and Maxim, which makes her unsure of their relationship. Manderley is the living, breathing embodiment of its previous mistress. Jealousy and obsession warp the characters mind and is what intertwines the characters in a psychologically destructive web.

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Wheatley takes us into the mind of the narrator by beginning the film with the narrator dreaming of Manderley. As she recites the notorious opening lines: “Last Night I dreamt I went to Manderley” the camera zooms into the large house, depicted below moonlight and backlit by a red flare. We then see the back of a woman walking through the gate, with long dark hair and wearing a red dress. This establishes the gothic motifs of the film and immediately introduces Rebecca as the ghost that haunts the mind of the narrator. Rebecca appears again in the film- something added by the screenwriters- and we only see her from the back, perhaps to suggest that the narrator can never catch up with her.  Her red dress furthermore signifies danger and lust. The house is central to the novel because it is the embodiment of Rebecca- everything from the rooms to the flower arrangements. Du Maurier creates emotional landscapes and the reader can imagine themselves walking through the house and smelling the ocean.  Du Maurier is vivid in her descriptions of nature and flowers which all add to the revealing of character and atmosphere.

In an interview, Wheatley said that he wanted to depict the romance that existed between the narrator and Maxim- when they were happy and in love. He beautifully captures the halcyon days of their short period of happiness in Monte Carlo. The cinematography is honey-tinged and depicts the rarefied world of the rich who summer in the South of France. Lily James embodies the radiance and excitement of first infatuation as Wheatley crosscuts between her waiting in anticipation for invitations to lunch from Maxim and their many trips together. She is a young, inexperienced girl who says “everything I experienced is from books. I haven’t really experienced anything yet”. This demonstrates the naivety of this young woman in comparison to the older, accomplished Rebecca and the power that Maxim holds in their relationship.

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Du Maurier said that her novel was “an exploration of the relationship between a man who is powerful and a woman who is not”. The young Mrs. de Winter is completely at the whims of Maxim in an unequal relationship. However, the one who holds true power in this story is Rebecca herself.  Rebecca’s presence is still felt about the house which further sabotages the relationship between her husband and his new wife.   When Maxim confesses to the murder of Rebecca, he exclaims that “She’s won.” The relationship between Maxim and the young Mrs. de Winter is a disturbing one.  He never declares his love and calls her a "silly little fool" when he proposes. When Maxim confesses that he hated Rebecca and it was he who killed her, she seems happy that he feels hatred for Rebecca and not too concerned about the fact he killed his own wife.  Finally, there is no longer a chasm between them. When he confesses, he is clearly relieved that he can finally share his burden and he will no longer be lonely. She instantly takes control of how he will tell his story which suddenly gives her confidence, and she becomes the one in control. Indeed, the film ends with an older and more confident narrator, now living with Maxim in Alexandria, as exiles.  As she looks through photographs of them together in France and Maxim puts his arms around her, she says that this is “one thing walking through flames for ...love”. This creates an unsatisfying ending as there is no justice for Rebecca, but the narrator is finally happy- she has conquered her insecurity and now has Maxim to herself.

Armie Hammer plays the dashing figure of Maxim de Winter striding around Monte Carlo in his striking yellow suit. I do feel that Hammer was mis-cast in this role. He captures the natural confidence and air of superiority of the aristocrat, but he appears more of the American preppy. He looks like a walking advertisement for Ralph Lauren. He does not convey a man with distance behind his eyes, tortured by secrets or the self-destructive, tightly coiled rage that is necessary for Mr de Winter’s character. He does however have undoubted charisma and creates an air of mystery that would capture a romantic young woman.

Kristen Scott- Thomas’ performance as Mrs Danvers is characteristically glacial and imperious. She glides through the halls as the gatekeeper of Manderley and keeper of Rebecca’s memory. From her first appearance, she establishes her presence and her feelings through the glorious half-twitch of a smile that greets the new Mrs De Winter.  Her subtle condescension firmly puts her in her place, which is exemplified in comments such as “I thought you were a lady’s maid” and references to “the first Mr de Winter”. Scott Thomas is masterly at building and developing a character. She delicately tortures and manipulates as if a spider closing in on her prey. In a scene where she is talking about her relationship with Rebecca, she is holding a paper spinner which has on it a bird in a cage. It could be argued that this represents the situation of the new Mrs de Winter- trapped in Manderley. Danvers' hatred of the new wife is founded on her overriding deep love and possessiveness of Rebecca. Danvers exerts power over her by putting her in her place and playing on her inexperience, yet by the end of the film, the narrator finds her strength and Danvers unravels.  Danvers is bereft by the discovery of Rebecca’s body and fights for the truth.  Wheatley adds a scene at the end of the film where following the fire, Danvers is standing on rocks by the sea and is found by the narrator.  She scolds the young wife “you’ll never be happy” and says that Rebecca “was the only friend I had”. Having lost Rebecca, she jumps into the sea.

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Rebecca was inspired by Du Maurier’s own life. She found that her husband had kept love letters from his former fiancée, a woman named Jan Ricardo who signed her name with a large, swooping ‘R’.  The idea that her husband still had affection for this woman upset her and made her feel inadequate.  Du Maurier did not see herself as the epitome of femininity; she considered herself a tomboy and was more concerned with her imaginary life.   Furthermore, she defined herself as a ‘half-breed’, female on the outside “with a boys mind and a boy’s heart”. Du Maurier’s sexuality is complex as she felt she was a boy stuck in the wrong body, and she is said to have had affairs with women.

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Critics have explored the sexual aspects of Danvers love for Rebecca. This is illustrated in the way she asks Mrs de Winter to feel the silk of Rebecca’s night-gown and that Rebecca would say “Danny, I only want you”. Danvers raised Rebecca and was proud of the accomplished and confident woman she became. They seemed to have an almost conspiratorial relationship where Rebecca shared everything with her. The scene where Danvers causes Mrs de Winter to breakdown takes place in the doorway to Rebecca’s bedroom which is full of mirrors. It is a disorienting scene and reminded me of the funhouse sequence between Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth in The Lady of Shanghai. Danvers tells her “you are nothing…you’re not her.  The mirrors reflect the nightmarish and claustrophobic situation she finds herself in- trapped and unable to escape Rebecca’s image.

Danvers illuminates Rebecca’s power and ability to manipulate men when she chastises Frank Crawley for the way he behaved around Rebecca. She recalls how Rebecca despised all men and how they merely amused her.  This underlines the depiction by Du Maurier of Rebecca as sexual and independent and therefore dangerous. Rebecca is viewed as a menace: “vicious, damnable”. It could therefore be implied that she had to be killed because her power over men was dangerous.  Du Maurier’s My Cousin Rachel tells the story of a young, inexperienced man who is in love with an older woman. She describes her as having a “rank vixen smell.” This quote illustrates the essence of the novel and what Du Maurier is trying to convey about power and sex. Du Maurier is marvellous at using scent to evoke character, something which is used to great effect in Rebecca. When Maxim and the narrator are on the beach in France, she says “Imagine if you could bottle a memory like scent”. When Lily James enters Rebecca’s bedroom for the first time she tries on her perfume and the rooms are full of Rebecca’s favourite flowers. Of course, scent -like food- awakens memory and can invoke memory and emotion.

One thing that this adaptation does highlight is how out of place the young Mrs de Winter is due to her inexperience and class. The film conveys the precariousness of the young woman’s position and the limited options for women in this time-period. She is an orphan, lower class, and is subject to the whims of her ward Mrs Van Hooper.  Mary Whitehead brilliantly plays Mrs Van Hooper as the boorish, loud-mouthed snob who relishes every opportunity to criticise her young assistant. When Maxim suggests they are related, Mrs Van Hooper retorts “we’re not related, she’s staff!” She taunts her artistic ambitions and suggests the trip to New York will expose her to “boys and excitement. All in your own class.” Maxims proposal of marriage is not only a romantic fantasy, but an escape from her life as assistant to Mrs Van Hooper.

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There are obvious parallels with the works of the Bronte’s. Like Jane Eyre, we have a narrator who is a young woman, orphaned and with no experience of the world.  She goes to a house that is haunted, but in this case by a very real ex-wife. Both narrators fall for older men with pasts and wives they conceal. Both men see in these women youth and innocence that will somehow redeem them.  Wuthering heights is also a story of the destructive power obsessional love and the wildness of the landscape reflects the characters it depicts.

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When Hitchcock made his adaptation, the film codes of the era prevented him from exploring the more violent undercurrents of the story. Ben Wheatley is known for his violent and humorous films, and so I was looking forward to what his unique eye would bring to this dark tale. But there are only hints of this. One example is how he depicts the narrator following Max down the corridors as he sleepwalks; only to be swallowed by vines as she reaches for him.  Another addition is the swarm of Ravens above Rebecca’s cottage which foreshadow death, and the juxtaposition of the narrator unravelling with the image of Rebecca’s skeleton rising to the surface. The ball sequence is like a scene from horror.  As the waltz plays, she is trapped in a sea of faces before following a vision of Rebecca through the maze of corridors. She emerges in the middle of a crowd with a close-up of her anguish. There is a p.o.v. of guests chanting “Rebecca, Rebecca” and The Sprig of Thyme plays again; an eerie reminder of a man who is not all he seems. Wheatley uses music to underline the themes of the film and evoke change in emotions and atmosphere.  The scenes in Monte Carlo are backed by lush and romantic piano and Spanish guitar.  As they arrive as Newlyweds o Manderley, the song The Sprig of Thyme sets the scene for Manderley but is also ominous.  The Sprig of Thyme is a traditional British Folk ballad warning young people of the dangers of taking false lovers “let no man steal your thyme”. The use of this song is clever as it reflects the story and the setting. It also foreshadowing.

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I enjoyed this film. It is beautifully filmed, and Lily James is one of my favourite actresses. Adapting a novel is not an easy task, especially when it is a novel that is special to the reader. When descriptive novels are adapted to the screen, description can be sacrificed- leaving only plot. A good example of a faithful adaptation is Granada’s adaptation of Brideshead. Apart from the expert casting and cinematography, the use of the narrator voiceover is essential as it adds to the character and the description in the novel. It is slow and takes it time. Time allows for character development and capturing the voice of the time. With Rebecca, you could either focus on the descriptive nature of the writing or the narrator. I think where Wheatleys adaptation falls down is in that his version does not go deep enough into the darker parts of jealousy and obsession. This would have created a more compelling and vibrant adaptation, than a traditional period piece film.