starring Nicole Kidman, John Malkovich, Barbara Hershey
directed by Jane Campion
144 minutes
Isabel Archer (Nicole Kidman) inherits a large sum of money from her uncle. There are two men attempting to woo her prior to this, Lord Warburton and Caspar Goodwood. She rejects them both and instead goes on a trip to Florence. There she meets Madame Serena Merle (Barbara Hershey) who introduces her to Gilbert Osmond (John Malkovich) whom she ends up marrying.
Things go downhill from there for Isabel. She attempts to have a child with Gilbert but she either miscarries or it dies very soon after she gives birth. Gilbert becomes very controlling and gets very impatient when she doesn’t do enough (in his eyes) to help marry his teenage daughter (from a prior marriage) off to Lord Warburton. Things hit rock bottom when he forbids her from visiting her cousin who is dying.
This movie was based on the 1881 novel of the same title by Henry James. I have not read the novel. Maybe I would like this movie more or at least gotten more from it if I had.
I don’t understand why Isabel married Gilbert. There was nothing between them as far as I could tell. What did she see in him?
I understand that I’m not the target audience for this movie.
There were a lot of tight shots on people’s faces. I’m not sure why. This was made for the big screen! Why so many tight shots?
I agree with a lot of what Roger Ebert said in his review of this movie. I wouldn’t give it 3/4 stars but aside from that I think he pretty much hit the nail on the head.
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