He's betting, I think, that you will want to spend this hour and a half dreaming about a month in such a place with nothing more on your mind than reading, writing, and browsing. He may well be right. So expectant are we, that fully half the movie passes before we admit to ourselves that this is a relentlessly grim affair that doesn't give us even a whiff of the humor and intelligence that laced the work and lives of the people it presents. Strachey and Carrington were known for wit and substance, but you'd never guess it from this film. Even fine efforts by Emma Thompson and Jonathan Pryce can't lighten the gloom of two people who dream of loving everyone and seem surprised when it hurts.
Freedom exacts a price.
All the right ingredients fail to lift the film.