lreynaert Jane Campion transposed one of Henry James' best novels into a formidable masterpiece. She captured luminously the author's main themes: money and love, Puritanism, innocence and survival.A gift of a fortune by an uncle to a young lady turns into a nightmare: money doesn't buy happiness. She becomes the target of those who need the money for their own 'standing' and the survival of their offspring (daughter). Another main theme of Henry James is Puritanism: the rejection of the 'physical' body. The innocent lady is captured through the discovery of physical contact, here, a tongue kiss. It overwhelms her completely and she gets entangled in a web of lies, hard plays of domination and subtle intrigues in order to keep her former admirers at bay. She stays blind for the 'real' world of true affections until she is confronted with naked and shattering facts. The performance of the cast (Nicole Kidman, John Malkovich, Barbara Hershey and others) is simply sublime. Rarely have difficult expressions in harsh and deeply pure or malignant emotional confrontations so intensely been interpreted. A must see.

Rozinda Spoilers throughout Most of the acting is fine. But I had a problem with the later Kidman scenes. Kidman needed less of the weeping and more anger or deviousness, to keep herself away from her vile husband as much as possible. Instead she is a typical victim, inviting his spite and weeping when he exerts it. She even lets the thug hit her.Clearly Isabel was heading for a fall right from the start of the story. She's quite convinced there's no point in marrying her decent suitor Goodwood, she wants as people often do to live it up for some years before marriage. Unfortunately, she isn't nearly as clever as she thinks she is and it's not long before she's met the devious Merle and has been hoodwinked into marriage with Merle's vile lover Osmond so that the pair of them can live on Isabel's money.Standard Henry James type of theme. American girls take people at face value but expect value for money. Europeans are devious and will say/do anything to get an American heiress's money as they are always had up but want to live the high life. Isabel is naive - totally fooled by Osmond's pretence to be an aesthete. Osmond is a self-satisfied, conceited, totally self-centred and selfish jerk who thinks he's a wonderful and admirable aesthete whom everyone should admire but we audience see through him right from the start. Even his long-time mistress and mother of the child Pansy, Merle, is deceived by him until he finally, at the end, tells her he never cared about her either and she realises she has wasted her life on him and suffered from having to hide the true identity of her child for nothing.Osmond's method is the well-known "Whatever happens it's always your fault, I am perfect and blameless, I am a saint and you are selfish/thoughtless/stupid/venomous/a liar/hiding the truth/whatever along with the ruthless Victorian head of the family you do as I say nonsense that women had to put up with in that period. The jaw dropping thing is that Isabel becomes totally witless - seems to believe all this drivel from her vicious husband and begs his forgiveness every time. She becomes aware gradually that he is being unfair but hasn't the guts to tell him so to his face and then walk out - it would be difficult but perfectly possible for her to have fled with her American lover Goodwood who is at his wits end why it is she won't be with him even though clearly she has feelings for him.Osmond's daughter falls for "the wrong man". Isabel tries to help Pansy, by helping to deter the suitor her father wants, but Osmond soon finds out, accuses his wife of being treacherous and sends his daughter to a convent to "think about her errors and her future". Pansy proves to be like her father - treacherous. She tells Isabel dismissively, "I have learned that I must always obey my father." So much for Isabel trying to help the girl to be with the man who loved her - Pansy is revealed as shallow like her parents. Isabel is a fool - she has allowed herself to be brainwashed by a jerk because she thought he was glamorous (though anyone less glamorous than this Osmond would be hard to find, I disliked him on sight, quite correctly). Isabel's kindly cousin Ralph has the sadly not unusual consumption, and now is dying and Isabel goes to him in England in spite of her husband refusing to believe Ralph was that ill, ie a means to again force his wife to his own bidding through trading on her loyalty. But Isabel is more loyal to Ralph and goes to him.Ralph dies. Goodwood is there and at last we think it is his time. Can Isabel is well away from her Florence-based husband. She can now go back to the USA with devoted Goodwood? In an outdoor scene, she finally makes clear she now loves Goodwood and kisses him, but then she runs away from him back into the house. The movie ends with her standing at the door of the house looking towards the camera. You can't tell for sure what she'll do next but there's a feeling of foreboding.Beats me why the movie didn't finish the story. Goodwood calls next day only to discover that Isabel has gone straight back to her husband. We are told her friend who has been Ralph's companion has "taught Goodwood how to wait". How long, the reader wonders? Presumably until Osmond dies, but that man I would suspect will outlive everyone and Isabel will never leave him because if she did, she'd betray her own original conceit that she wanted to live an exciting and meaningful life. Basically, Isabel is a silly, self-destructive woman. She could never make any man happy. She needs, it seems, to be bullied.

Sindre Kaspersen New Zealand screenwriter and director Jane Campion's fourth feature film is an adaptation of a novel from 1881 written by American writer Henry James (1843-1916). The screenplay for this USA-England co-production which premiered at the 53rd Venice Film Festival in 1996, was written by Australian screenwriter Laura Jones. It tells the story about Isabel Archer, an independent woman from New York who after the death of her father visits her aunt Lydia and her wealthy uncle Daniel Tuchett at his estate near London. During her stay she socializes with an elder woman named Madame Serena Merle and some young men who one by one asks her for her hand in marriage. When Isabel's uncle dies, she inherits large parts of his estate and decides to travel the continent. In Florence she encounters an American expatriate named Gilbert Osmond who charms her with his knowledge and articulacy. Though having declined several proposals of marriage due to her ideals, Isabel agrees to marry Gilbert and starts a new life with him and his young daughter Pansy in Rome.This visually notable and dialog-driven period piece from the mid-1990s which draws ardent milieu depictions, is a detailed study of character about an 18th century feminist protagonist, driven by her personal choices, who seeks out and confronts her destiny while trying to maintain her integrity, but finds herself the victim of a deceitful and manipulative conspiracy. Jane Campion's second adaptation of previously written material is more of an in-depth and atmospheric character drama about a woman who is torn between her values and desires than a passionately romantic love story like "The Piano" (1993). Shot in England, USA, Turkey, Italy and Australia and acutely and distinctly directed by the brilliant filmmaker Jane Campion who has created several remarkable female character portraits since her feature film debut "Sweetie" (1989), this subtly narrated fictional tale is beautifully photographed by English-born New Zealand cinematographer Stuart Dryburgh. This lyrical epic which focuses on themes such as independence, freedom, love and betrayal, is distinguished by the prominent production and costume design by the director's frequent collaborator Janet Patterson and has a fine score by Polish composer Wojciech Kilar which reinforces the shifting atmosphere. Nicole Kidman, John Malkovich and Barbara Hershey delivers fine acting performances in this historical costume drama which gained, among other awards, the Pasinetti Award for Best Film at the 53rd Venice International Film Festival in 1996 and was nominated for Best Supporting Actress Barbara Hershey and Best Costume Design Janet Patterson at the 69th Academy Awards in 1997.

Michael May (Joffi) I have always enjoyed period pieces, good adaptations even more so. This film, however, is really only worth a 5 - an average film - if not for the strong performances of the supporting cast. The work of Barbara Hershey and Martin Donovan in particular is stellar, raising my rating to 6 on their merit alone.Aside from those two, this film is an exercise in 'almosts' and 'not quites'. It is almost engaging enough, yet just short of drawing me completely in. It not quite makes me believe Nicole Kidman's Isabel is worthy of the love of so many. The love shown by the suitors is believable enough (again, a well acted supporting cast), I simply do not quite believe the object of that love would elicit it.Still, the film is good. It is a pity, though. It could have been great.