IMDb RATING
7.2/10
4.8K
YOUR RATING
A governess agrees to bear a child to help her father.A governess agrees to bear a child to help her father.A governess agrees to bear a child to help her father.
- Awards
- 2 wins & 2 nominations
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThough he had been in the film industry as a scriptwriter for many years, this was William Nicholson's first directed film.
- GoofsAfter seven years, despite evolving fashions, neither hero nor heroine have made any change in hairdo or style of clothes. Nor do they look a day older.
- Quotes
Elisabeth: Do you know about Firelight?
Louisa: What about it?
Elisabeth: It's a kind of magic. Firelight makes time stand still. When you put out the lamps and sit in the firelight's glow there aren't any rules any more.
[blows out lamp]
Elisabeth: You can do what you want, say what you want, be what you want, and when the lamps are lit again, time starts again, and everything you said or did is forgotten. More than forgotten it never happened.
Featured review
Wrenchingly Beautiful
When I first saw a preview of this film, I imagined "oh, just another remake of Jane Eyre". But, because of my liking for Sophie Marceau and my love of "Jane Eyre", I rented it...and I loved it.
This film takes a unique perspective, concentrating more upon the relationship between mother and daughter, rather than the romance between mother and father. Though the story is an oft-told one, this is a film whose magic will grasp you, just as the mentioned firelight within.
Sophie Marceau gives a wonderful performance as Elisabeth, combining her lovely face with the warmth of any mother towards her child. Stephen Dillane is also very good, but I was entirely *riveted* by Dominique Belcourt as little Louisa. Her performance had no artifice---she had no problem acting like the little brat, then slowly beginning to soften as she discovered what a life could be without hating everyone other than her father.
The costumes were as good as any other recent period film and the sets were *gorgeous*, especially the famous "lake house".
Therefore, despite a plot everyone knows, "Firelight" utterly charmed me and held me spellbound even after its conclusion.
This film takes a unique perspective, concentrating more upon the relationship between mother and daughter, rather than the romance between mother and father. Though the story is an oft-told one, this is a film whose magic will grasp you, just as the mentioned firelight within.
Sophie Marceau gives a wonderful performance as Elisabeth, combining her lovely face with the warmth of any mother towards her child. Stephen Dillane is also very good, but I was entirely *riveted* by Dominique Belcourt as little Louisa. Her performance had no artifice---she had no problem acting like the little brat, then slowly beginning to soften as she discovered what a life could be without hating everyone other than her father.
The costumes were as good as any other recent period film and the sets were *gorgeous*, especially the famous "lake house".
Therefore, despite a plot everyone knows, "Firelight" utterly charmed me and held me spellbound even after its conclusion.
helpful•92
- angel-131
- Jun 16, 2000
- How long is Firelight?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $785,482
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $135,401
- Sep 7, 1998
- Gross worldwide
- $785,482
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