Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) Binding: VHS Tape EAN: 9786304419700 Format: Closed-captioned, Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC ISBN: 6304419708 Label: Polygram USA Video Manufacturer: Polygram USA Video Number Of Items: 1 Publisher: Polygram USA Video Release Date: November 18, 1997 Running Time: 144 minutes Sales Rank: 3537 Studio: Polygram USA Video Theatrical Release Date: December 24, 1996
Amazon.com essential video: Leave it to New Zealand director Jane Campion (The Piano, Angel at My Table) to begin an adaptation of Henry James's great novel (set in the late 1800s) with a group of late-20th-century women from Down Under talking about the importance of a kiss. Like any good film adaptation (and it's a very good one, indeed), this exquisitely framed and mounted Portrait of a Lady is at least as much Campion as it is James. The story of strong-willed, independent-minded Isabel Archer (Nicole Kidman, whose skin here is photographed like delicate porcelain) is a tricky one to dramatize, since it's largely about good intentions going awry, roads not taken, misguided decisions made for good reasons. Headstrong American orphan Isabel rejects the proposal of a decent, sensible English suitor, Lord Warburton (Richard E. Grant), because she wants to find her own destiny and identity first. Instead, she is seduced by Gilbert Osmond (John Malkovich), an effete collector of art (and women) whom one character describes as a 'sterile dilettante.' How Isabel's life, and the lives of those who love her, are affected by this fateful (but irreversible?) decision is what the bulk of the film is about. Portrait of a Lady is lovely, heartbreaking, and at times terrifying--as only coming face-to-face with the consequences of one's own life-changing decisions can be. Gorgeously photographed in anamorphic widescreen format. --Jim Emerson
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Rating: - The film, like Isabel Archer, is bursting with promise unfulfilled
Visually, I would rate this film five stars. And, I'm certain, that those reviewers who see past this film's flaws and award the film four or five stars are rewarding the stunning visuals. But, dramatically, its barely a three (and that's being generous), because, unfortunatley, it seems, that Campion is far more interested in period detail and far more fascinated with various costume choices and interior designs than she is in allowing her actual characters to do or say interesting things. No one in this film is alive. This is, in part, the theme of the film (and Henry James' fiction in general): everyone, in some way, is living a stifled life. But, it is a problem when the sets are infused with more color & life than the actual people. Mary-Louise Parker (whose eccentric bespectacled performance is the most memorable thing about this film) is perhaps the exception here; she breathes life into every scene she ... Read More
Rating: - The portrait of a BAD screenplay
I will start first by saying that," NO...I have not read the Henry James' novel." That said, my job is to review the Jane Campion film and Laura Jones written screenplay.Having seen this film several times over the years since it first was released in the theatres, I have pondered why this film has never really connected with me until today. I do believe that the real problem with this film is the screenplay itself. Laura Jones also adapted Peter Carey's OSCAR AND LUCINDA and the same problem exists in that film as it does in THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY......short scenes, uneven character development and a lack of "glue" that ties it all together to make the viewer have a total sense of identification with the characters and their situations.Jane Campion certainly has a beautiful sense of how a film should look and feel visually, but this screenplay screams for the viewer to run to read the source material to truly understand ... Read More
Rating: - What kind of moron can't see through John Malkovich?
John Malkovich plays this creep creepily just as he played Valmont in the American movie Dangerous Liasons. Ugh. Unknowing girlchiks, here's a litmus test to help you avoid Isabelle Archer's fate: Do you think this guy will ever help you move that heavy armoire up or down the stairs? NO!!! So kick him to the curb, slam the door in his face, IGNORE him. His type has no innate power, he only has power that you give to him.
Martin Donovan is all voice and Mary Louise Parker is all scary in this movie. But this might be too much voice from Martin Donovan.
Wow. I can't believe that there are people who could ruin their lives like this.
Rating: - Complex,, thought-provoking
The unusualness of this movie intriqued me so much that I have to give it 4 stars!!The prose and oral exchanges of the characters are very stimulating....For someone to watch @ understand this movie they have to be reasonably intelligent. A few times I paused the movie to think about what the characters meant in their converses (especially the scenes involving Malkovich @ Hershey)... I can see why the average person would think this movie is slow and dull, but the great part of this movie are the subtle conversations that take place. (Ex. When Isabel is explaining to Lord Warburton why he shouldn't marry Pansy and the dialogues between Isabel and Ralph). The ending is great as well. Not catering to the average moviegoers' sensibilities, it leaves the viewer wondering what might happen just as the book does. Alas, for this movie to be enjoyed, one needs to have an appreciation for literature. The musical score gets 5 stars!!!
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- The film, like Isabel Archer, is bursting with promise unfulfilled
- The portrait of a BAD screenplay
- Complex,, thought-provoking
