W.E.

Movie / Show Details

Amazon.com

It was a love story that amazed and scandalized the world: because royal protocol barred him marrying a divorced commoner (and an American, to boot), Edward VIII abdicated the British throne in 1936 in order to be with “the woman I love.” That story is brought to the screen in W./E., along with a parallel 1990s tale of a woman (Abbie Cornish, Bright Star) fascinated by the saga as she moons about the halls of Sotheby’s in anticipation of an auction of the royals’ stuff. This is the project dreamed up by Madonna for her narrative-feature directing debut, and you can presume that Madonna identifies with the lives of the royals, living their dramas out in a fishbowl for all the world to see. The 1930s scenes are full of period fluff and a certain amount of satisfying royal intrigue (crisscrossing at points with The King’s Speech). Perhaps the film makes too many excuses for the future king (the real Edward VIII was something of a nitwit, and at that delicate moment in history it was probably a good thing he departed the scene), ably played here by James D’Arcy. But at least his American lady, Wallis Simpson, is embodied in lively fashion by Andrea Riseborough (from Brighton Rock), who is fully convincing as a subject of fascination. The draggy modern scenes don’t fare as well, although it is curious that Madonna seeks to make an out-and-out art movie instead of a crowd-pleasing slice of entertainment. Apparently she saves that impulse for her music. –Robert Horton

Product Description

Madonna’s Academy Award nominated film (2011 Best Achievement in Costume Design, Arianne Phillips) delivers an elegantly stylish and beautifully dramatic look into the lives of two fragile yet passionate women intertwined across the decades. In 1998, New Yorker Wally Winthrop (Abbie Cornish) becomes enamored with what is believed to be the greatest romance of the 20th century – King Edward VIII’s (James D’Arcy) surrender of the crown for the woman he loved, the chic and charismatic American, Wallis Simpson (Andrea Riseborough). Through a series of secret letters, Wally discovers the lifetime of romance Edward and Wallis shared together.