THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY
A film review by Laura & Robin Clifford
Copyright 1997 Laura & Robin Clifford
(This review is an excerpt from Reeling, a movie review show hosted by Laura and Robin Clifford, running on Boston Cable TV. Note that the film descriptions vary in completeness due to the fact that they're actually intros for running film clips.)
THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY ----------------------
Continuing with the 19th century literature onslought begun with 3 Jane Austen film adaptations in the past year, Australian director Jane Campion ("The Piano") brings Henry James' "The Portrait of a Lady" to the screen. Nicole Kidman stars as American Isabel Archer an independent young woman with a large inheritance who's moved to Europe to experience more of the world. Her curiousity allows her to be led by a manipulative friend with a shady agenda, Barbara Hershey's Madame Merle, into the arms of a dark dilettante, John Malkovich's Gilbert Osmond.
LAURA:
"The Portrait of a Lady" is a complex story, gorgeously shot, moodily symbolic and erotic. Jane Campion is proving that she can stand easily in the pantheon of world class directors, and I, for one, would love to see her nab a second Best Director Oscar nod.
I'm a bit perplexed why this film hasn't received more accolades - I've seem some negative response based on comparison with the source material. I'll state right here that I've never read the book (although my appetite to do so has now been whetted), so I'm judging the film simply on its own merits.
The film begins oddly, with an opening credit sequence of modern women shot in black and white, as well as color, in sisterly groups of staring into the camera - there's almost a hint of lesbian overtones. Here Campion announces that her interpretation of the story will bear her distinctive mark.
Isabel Archer, in an attempt to mark her independence, makes a perverse choice that will bring her nothing but unhappiness.
Nicole Kidman is fine as Isabel, but I doubt this role will garner her an Oscar nomination even though she was unjustly overlooked last year. James Malkovich is typecast as the perversely dark charmer who revels in emotional abuse, but he is good at these types of roles and plays this one quietly.
The standout in the cast is Martin Donovan as Isabel's sickly cousin Ralph, one of her three, more upstanding admirers. He's a Victorian embodiment of the 'if you love them, set them free' school of thought. He reminded me of Jeff Bridges at his most haunted best - maybe even better!
Barbara Hershey does some fine work as the duplicitous Madame Merle, who finally sinks into despair as she witnesses the pain brought about by her actions.
John Geilgud is also outstanding - he makes a strong impression in two small scenes. When left alone with his son Ralph, he immediately indulges himself in a forbidden cigarette (Gielgud's pale face and white hair framed in smoke - a beautiful, haunting image).
Another brilliant scene takes place at a ball. While the black-clad matron Isabel politically juggles her stepdaughter's two suitors, plump Italian women in lavish costumes pass out to her left and right - the coldness of an arranged marriage juxataposed against the fever of passion.
The film wraps with triumphantly, if obliquely, in a gothically bleak snowy England after the false sunshine of Italy. The film's beautiful cinematography and locations are complimented by a hauntingly romantic score.
A
ROBIN:
Normally, as a film critic, I can divorce the guy in me and just watch a film on the critic level. Sometime, as in "Portrait of a Lady", I watch the film as both a critic and a guy, which causes me great confusion.
As Robin, the film critic, I watch "Portrait..." and note the detail and attention given to costume, set design, photography, writing, acting and direction, and see a finely crafted work with solid credits all around.
The acting is uniformly first rate from top to bottom - especially the performance given by Martin Donovan as Nicole Kidman's cousin and admirer, Ralph. Very subtly, he builds on the viewer's and cousin Isabel's (Kidman) affections so that, by the end, you're rooting for him to get the girl. Too bad he dies. Blame the Henry James novel for that.
The key actors, Nicole Kidman, John Malkovich (making a career as a slimy sex symbol) and Barbara Hershey, are very good. Not great, through no fault of their own, but still very good.
My only problem with the film, as Robin, the film critic, is that the story is too involved for the acting. The actors are trying so hard to do justice to the story that I never was able to get too deep into the motivations of the characters they portray. I think its the wealth of information being conveyed that overshadows the actors efforts.
Technically, especially the photography alluded to in the title - some of the shots are, in fact, as visually stunning as genuine portraits - this is a top notch affair.
Again, as Robin, the film critic, I find Portrait of a Lady to be one of the years best and give it an A-.
Now, to Robin, the guy: its over two hours long, theres no gratuitous violence or nudity (nudity is symbolic here, at best - guys don't do symbolic). No guns. No good guys/bad guys. No explosions. No shootouts. Just a lot of talking. Hey, this isn't the kind of movie for A Guy to see, is it? Decidedly not.
Robin, the guy, gives it a C+, but that doesn't count. Robin, the critic, still gives "Portrait of a Lady" an A-.
Visit Reeling at http://www.neponset.com/reeling.
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