THE WINGS OF THE DOVE (Miramax - 1997) Starring Helena Bonham Carter, Linus Roache, Alison Elliott, Elizabeth McGovern, Charlotte Rampling, Alex Jennings Screenplay by Hossein Amini, based on the novel by Henry James Produced by David Parfitt, Stephen Evans Directed by Iain Softley Running time: 101 minutes
***1/2 (out of four stars)
Alternate Rating: A-
Note: Some may consider portions of the following text to be spoilers. Be forewarned.
-------------------------------------------------------------
While the recent film adaptations based upon the works of Henry James -- Jane Campion's THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY and Agneiszka Holland's WASHINGTON SQUARE -- were mildly disappointing to various degrees, such is not the case with the latest James-inspired piece, Iain Softley's richly handsome production of THE WINGS OF THE DOVE. Finely observed and splendidly performed, this is a most impressive costume drama which is sure to draw heavy attention during awards season.
The screenplay by Hossein Amini (who splendidly adapted Thomas Hardy's JUDE for Michael Winterbottom last year) heavily revamps Henry James' story, giving it a modern spin, pushing the action forward up eight years to 1910, and extensively rewriting the dialogue of the characters, but retains the novel's essence and loses none of its moral ambiguity. That the audience's sympathies are exchanged so fluidly between its characters is indicative of THE WINGS OF THE DOVE's transcendence of the staidness often associated with the costume melodrama genre.
At first, our sympathies belong with Kate Croy (Helena Bonham Carter), who serves as the focal figure and the catalyst in THE WINGS OF THE DOVE. The young Englishwoman's foothold in high society is tenuous; her mother has recently died, her father is a penniless opium addict, and the only thing separating Kate from poverty is the patronage of her wealthy Aunt Maud (Charlotte Rampling), who's determined to marry Kate to someone with social stature -- perhaps snooty Lord Mark (Alex Jennings). Kate's heart, however, belongs elsewhere -- to an upstanding man distinctly of lower class, struggling journalist Merton Densher (Linus Roache) -- and this enrages her benefactor, who forbids Kate from seeing him and threatens to cut off her father's meager subsistence allowance.
Enter Millie Theale (Alison Elliott), a fabulously wealthy young American, of whom it is remarked "She'd be the Queen of America, if they had one." She and Kate meet at a dinner party and quickly strike up a close friendship. When Kate finds that Millie (who's unaware of Kate's clandestine relationship) has eyes for Merton, and learns elsewhere that Millie is stricken with a terminal illness, she unhatches a deceptive scheme which ultimately has unexpectedly powerful and tragic repercussions for all involved.
THE WINGS OF THE DOVE smartly avoids explicitly spelling out Kate's devious plan for as long as possible, and while it could have stood to improve by omitting a unambiguous description of her plot, it's nonetheless effective both in underlining the stealthful complicity of Kate and Merton, and their unspoken reluctancy to perpetrate their self-serving deed.
What's interesting here is that despite the hurtful treachery committed against unsuspecting Millie by Kate and Merton, their intentions towards her are anything but malicious; unlike in James' novel, it clearly comes across in the film that the lovers genuinely like Millie, and this brings new dimensions to what would otherwise be a fairly superficial depiction of green-eyed villainy. The machinations are a consequently a little less ruthless, a little bit more compassionate in nature, and one can legitimately begin to consider how much of Kate's plotting serves the needs and desires of her ailing friend's as much as it does her own.
Ms. Bonham Carter is very effective as Kate. Despite her complex character's less-than-honourable motivations and her dishonestly manipulative tactics, she still manages to come across as far from villainous, a desperate woman whose circumstances have culminated in this dishonourable path to tread. Even as we view her actions as abhorrent, Ms. Bonham Carter makes us if not sympathise, at least empathise with Kate's dilemma.
Mr. Roache is very good as a man torn between desire and duty, and his character's struggle with his conscience and his own moral fibre is palpable. Caught between the desire to do right by both women and his passion for Kate, Merton is perhaps the character who's ultimately affected the most; Mr. Roache's heartwrenching performance is key in the tumultuous emotional buildup at the conclusion of THE WINGS OF THE DOVE which pays off lavishly.
Ms. Elliott is nothing short of beguiling as Millie, whose presence throughout the film is bittersweet. To reconcile her distinctly beatific aura with her ailing mortality is heartbreaking, and her intoxicating demeanour and dreamy-eyed smile while sharing stolen moments with Merton are luminous. The dizzying sense of passion so missing in WASHINGTON SQUARE is perfectly captured here with a scene which features Ms. Elliott up high on a church, beaming upwards, completely enraptured. I've admired Ms. Elliott's work for several years now; her performance here is a major step forward for her and marks a career best.
The supporting players in THE WINGS OF THE DOVE are solid in relatively minor roles. Mr. Jennings is very good in a limited capacity, while Elizabeth McGovern, although fine in her supporting role as Millie's faithful travelling companion, seems somewhat out of place here in a period piece.
THE WINGS OF THE DOVE is precisely captures emotional truths, both big and small. The delicacy of the interplay between the characters rings true -- the encounters between Merton and Millie in scenic Venice, riding in the canals or walking in the perpetual rainfall are fraught with charged sexual tension, and the lovemaking scene between Kate and Merton is one of the most passionate ever put to film -- except here, the passion shared between the lovers is not that of lust, but grief. The film even has a sense of humour, with Kate arranging for Millie and Merton to share an awkward private moment at an art exhibit of nudes. Within the context of a highly mannered piece, the cumulative effect of the bombardment of emotionality, both high and low, is a highly affecting denouement.
This is a masterful direction job by Iain Softley, who rebounds from the disappointment of HACKERS and fulfills on the promise of his feature film debut work in BACKBEAT. Confidently helmed, THE WINGS OF THE DOVE has a nice deliberate pace where every shot is efficient and purposeful; there are are no throwaways. There's a particularly interesting shot sequence early in the film where Merton vainly protests with Aunt Maud's doorman, arguing that he won't leave until he can speak with Kate. The shot of Kate in the window, forlornly gazing down upon Merton in the street with her huge smoldering eyes, is strategically placed to obscure her lips -- and indeed, communication between the two is severed at this point in the film. While the film could certainly excise the reiterative flashback shots that appear at a climactic point in the film that prove to be redundant and ineffective, as a whole Mr. Softley's helming of THE WINGS OF THE DOVE is impressively proficient.
In fact, THE WINGS OF THE DOVE is precisely the sort of film which is undoubtedly bound to draw the attention of year-end award voters, and could conceivably snare no less than five and perhaps as many as ten Oscar nominations -- Picture, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actress, Director, Adapted Screenplay, Art Direction, Cinematography, Costume Direction, and Editing (there's one transition shot which is strikingly distracting -- you can virtually see the shot freeze -- but it's otherwise elegantly edited by Tariq Anwar) are all eminently feasible possibilities. This is a superb, moving film, easily the best costume drama of the year to date, and among the finest of recent years.
- Alex Fung
email: aw220@freenet.carleton.ca
web : http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~aw220/
-- Alex Fung (aw220@freenet.carleton.ca) | http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~aw220/ "I was reminded for some reason of something Fred Kareman, my acting teacher, had once said: 'Most people in this business should be selling zippers on 7th Avenue.'" - Tom DiCillo
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews