I was drawn to this film by the fab scenery in the trailer and the intriguing subject matter. The Irish-born statesman, philosopher, and man of letters, Edmund Burke, has been described as one of the most important formative influences on English conservatism, although he took stances that might have been viewed as liberal back in the mid-18th Century. He attempted to find a peaceful resolution to the dispute between the Crown and the American colonies, pursued the impeachment of the former Governor-General of Bengal over alleged plunder and corruption, and even opposed the slave trade.
The film deals only one aspect of Burke's life and legacy - his contribution to the philosophy of aesthetics, in particular the notion of "the sublime" - that in nature which inspires awe, reverence, or a sense of wonder mixed with terror.
It takes place during a (probably fictitious) research trip to the French Alps in which Burke, played by Antony Langdon, sets out to further investigate his idea of "the sublime" for a revised edition of his treatise on the subject. Improbably, he undertakes his quest with a single companion - a female servant named Awak (Nathalia Acevedo), who acts as his cook, valet and baggage-hauler on the perilous journey.
There is both dramatic and comic potential in this scenario - Burke is portrayed as fastidious, foppish, and with an overbearing sense of entitlement, brusque in his dealings with members of the lower classes, and unprepared for the harsh conditions and biological hazards he encounters on his trek. But it's a wasted opportunity. The dialogue is lame and banal, with no attempt to give it a convincing 18th century flavour. (I don't claim that speech in period dramas has to be authentic in order to work - indeed there is something to be said, on occasions, for using an ultra-modern lexicon for greater impact and immediacy - but here, the use of modern colloquialisms just comes across as lazy.) There is no back-story concerning Burke's prior career and life in London, or how his theories connect to the wider intellectual and artistic scene in existence at that time. What's more, there is no meaningful development of the protagonist. His character does not really progress or change, through interaction either with his environment or his fellow human beings. Whether he's moaning about his tea being cold, straightening his periwig, demanding his face-powder, or crawling under a glacier, he remains the same fey, self-important, upper-class twit. Even as he is driven to seek more extreme landscapes in search of the "sublime", risking hypothermia in the process, there is no real sense of peril, and Burke doesn't seem to acquire any new humility, compassion or wisdom as a result of his brushes with hardship and death on his ill-defined spiritual quest.
Such a mocking and trivialising treatment of this Hiberno-British intellectual giant might be excusable if the film was at least funny. And yet it fails on the level of comedy too. Burke's snobbishness and peevishness are too understated, and Langdon's delivery and acting style too restrained, for it to work in this way. As for Awak, I'm at a loss to understand why the writer / director couldn't have made the interplay between the two characters more exciting. She's neither a muse, nor a companion, nor an intellectual rival, nor a lover, she's just . . . well, there. Her lines are delivered utterly without conviction (not her fault because it's a rotten script). And she's miscast - it's not credible that someone would employ such a slender, willowy young lady to drag the contents of a gentleman's wardrobe and other paraphernalia up and down mountains - she wouldn't survive two days.
I can't fault the visual elements; the director of photography exploits the splendid Alpine locations to the full. So, it works on the level of a travelogue. But the lazy writing and superficial approach to characterisation failed to sustain my interest in the human aspect of this drama, and any viewers who are hoping to be enlightened about the real Burke and his intellectual life will be sorely disappointed.
