Tennessee Williams wrote The Loss Of A Teardrop Diamond in 1957. He had planned to work with Elia Kazan to bring the story to the big screen but the project never developed. Now, over fifty years later, The Loss Of A Teardrop Diamond is being introduced to audiences for the first time.
Bryce Dallas Howard plays Fisher Willow, the daughter of a wealthy Southern plantation owner. She has spent years studying in Europe and has come to disdain the stuffiness of traditional Southern society. But in order to secure her inheritance from her aunt (Ann-Margret), she must debut at a series of high-society parties in Memphis. Of course, she will need an escort for these soirées. She chooses Jimmy Dobyne (Chris Evans). He’s the grandson of a governor and has an impressive pedigree but it’s obvious that his family has taken a massive fall from grace. His drunken father runs the commissary on Fisher’s family plantation and his mother is in a mental institution.
At first it seems like Fisher only chooses Jimmy for the obvious shock value his presence will bring to the scene. But it quickly becomes apparent that she really does have feelings for him. Jimmy is oblivious. This could be because he doesn’t think such a
wealthy girl could ever fall for him but it’s probably because he’s a guy and most (if not all) guys are oblivious about these things. Everything comes to a head at a swanky Halloween party. Fisher loses a $5,000 teardrop diamond earring and this one event begins an avalanche that will change things forever for Fisher, Jimmy and several other party guests.
The best thing about The Loss Of A Teardrop Diamond is the emotion that it evokes. Even though it takes place almost 90 years ago in a world nearly foreign to me, I can still sympathize completely with Fisher. There is one scene where she, totally overwhelmed, sits down at the piano and plays Liszt’s Liebestraum No. 3. You can literally feel her sadness pouring through the keys. It brought me to tears, and I don’t cry too easily while watching movies. The tension between Fisher and Jimmy is palpable and makes all of their scenes together uncomfortable. However, I am sure this is what the screenplay hoped to portray.
Although this isn’t Tennessee Williams’ best work, it still has all of the elements of his classic style. The dialogue is almost poetry and there are some lines that are simple perfection. At one point Fisher tells Jimmy, “You’re the cynosure of all eyes in the room.” I don’t think anyone ever spoke like that, even in the ‘20s but Williams always seems to make it work. And the beautiful southern landscape is almost a character of its own. Of course, Bryce Howard and Chris Evans can’t hold a candle to the likes of Vivien Leigh, Marlon Brando and anyone else who starred in Williams’ more famous works, but they certainly don’t screw things up either. All in all, this is a thoroughly enjoyable film.
The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond arrives on Blu-ray with a 1080p MPEG4-AVC encode framed at 2.35:1. The colors are well reproduced, but greens and yellows standout in various scenes of the movie. Black levels are decent and the shadow reproduction is a bit inconsistent. Fine details are more apparent during face shots and on the texture on the clothing, but there are a few scenes that look soft. The film is topped with a fine layer of grain. Overall, The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond looks good enough to enjoy.
The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond arrives on Blu-ray with a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio lossless track. Dialogue is clear and well prioritized throughout the film. Its prioritization is great, being able to handle even the most arduous arguments and still delivering perfect clear dialog. The mix is relatively simple, only really being exercised in a few scenes and is handled with ease. The rears are only used from time to time and never truly excelling. For what it is The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond sounds great.
The disc includes a few uninspiring extras none of which add anything to the film.
Behind The Scenes – This featurette is essentially 12 minutes of nothing. It’s a bunch of random shots thrown together. And almost every scene is someone complaining about how hot it is. I’m surprised that this was even included on the disc.
Conversation With Director Jodie Markell – This is the best of the three extras. Markell talks about her deep personal connection with the works of Tennessee Williams. She also mentions that she was able to read Williams’ journals and that The Loss Of A
Teardrop Diamond was the piece that helped him come out of a long period of writers block. Interesting.
Deleted Scenes – There are only two scenes featured here and they are both incredibly brief. They’re both humorous but definitely do not add anything to the film as a whole.
If you have never seen a movie or play written by Tennessee Williams then I would not suggest that The Loss Of A Teardrop Diamond to be your first experience. Please watch A Streetcar Named Desire or The Glass Menagerie first. But if you’ve already seen those films and enjoyed them, I would definitely recommend The Loss Of A Teardrop Diamond.
