A poignant romantic drama about love and lust between an aging man and a younger woman, Spanish director Isabel Coixet’s Elegy is a leisurely paced but heartfelt exploration of its characters.
While the film focuses on Ben Kingsley’s aged professor, Penélope Cruz steals the show as his beautiful young lover, more enchanting here than she’s been in any previous English-language feature. Admittedly, the film isn’t for all tastes; explicit (but tasteful) sex scenes between Kingsley and Cruz may be a turnoff for some.
Kingsley stars as college professor and cultural critic David Kepesh, who is careful not to get involved with any of his students – at least, before grades are given. After the class has ended, he hosts a traditional cocktail party and has a sexual dalliance with one of his young former students.
This year, the student that has caught his eye is the beautiful Consuela Castillo (Penélope Cruz), whom he compares to Goya’s Naked Maja.
The two soon establish a relationship, which runs much deeper than David’s usual flings; he’s terrified, however, of any kind of commitment – both as a man who left his wife and son long ago, deciding marriage was an institution he didn’t want to be a part of, and as an awakened jealous lover who knows the age gap between himself and Consuela is too great, and a younger man is likely to steal her from him.
The story takes place over a number of years, though it didn’t really convey the passage of time – and the heartbreaking loss of that potential love – to my full satisfaction.
Despite the subject matter, the film feels remarkably lightweight up until a sobering conclusion, which packs the direct emotional punch much of the rest of the film lacked.
Supporting cast has considerably less screentime than the stars, but still makes an impression. A refreshingly subdued Dennis Hopper plays David’s best friend George, who guides him through his relationships; Deborah Harry appears in a key scene as George’s suffering wife.
Peter Saarsgard has a few effective scenes as David’s son, still carrying angst against his father. And Patricia Clarkson threatens to wrestle the film from Cruz as David’s elegant, 20-year fling.
The movie has a lot in common with Roger Michell’s Peter O’Toole vehicle Venus, but comes off as a far more touching experience.
Kingsley’s David is not a lecherous and lustful old man, but a fully fleshed-out character with fears and insecurities, all-too well-aware of his situation. Elegy is a specialty that may not appeal to everyone, but it’s a refreshingly elegant and thoughtful film populated by intelligent characters who are smart enough to realize that they don’t have all the answers.