(UK 1997 101m) DVD1/2
Horror hath overwhelmed me
p David Parfitt, Stephen Evans d Iain Softley w Hossein Amini novel Henry James ph Eduardo Serra ed Tariq Anwar m Edward Shearmur art John Beard cos Sandy Powell
Helena Bonham Carter (Kate Croy), Linus Roache (Merton Densher), Alison Elliott (Millie Theale), Elizabeth McGovern (Susie Stringham), Charlotte Rampling (Aunt Maude), Alex Jennings (Lord Mark), Michael Gambon (Lionel Croy),
When Helen Hunt received her Academy Award it wasn’t without a hint of incredulity, as if she, too, in good humour, realised the injustice. In her speech she told of how, when she saw Judi Dench in Mrs Brown, she believed she’d seen the Academy Award winner. Judi was gracious in defeat, and it’s true Judi would have been a far more deserving winner. Yet giving Judi the award would have been recognition for a lifetime’s work, and perhaps a greater injustice lurked in the shadows…to Helena Bonham Carter.
Softley and writer Amini updated Henry James’ novel to the Edwardian era, and though the improved décor and class analysis was even more acute then than in Victorian times, was there also something else lurking there. James’ work, like many of his studies of the upper classes, was as cutting as a surgeon’s scalpel, performing an autopsy on a society obsessed with wealth and the ostentatious presentation of said wealth. In moving the period forward, the piece seems to be equally a post mortem on the Merchant-Ivory-Forster series of which Helena Bonham Carter was such a fixed ingredient. Kate Croy was thus the antidote to her earlier heroines, and in character she certainly was. Amini reduces the story to a ménage à trois where Kate Croy is an impoverished woman reliant on her aunt’s patronage and unable to marry the man she loves – an equally moneyless Merton – for fear of losing her inheritance. When she’s introduced to and befriends Millie, an American girl dying of some pulmonary disorder with a fortune and no-one to give it to, she hits on the idea of getting Merton to seduce her to get her money, so they can live free of her aunt’s demands.
Easy it is to point the finger at the selfishness of the protagonists, especially Kate, and yet the makers’ seem more intrigued by the society that, in forcing people into such actions, is doomed to rot. There always was a sense of inherent decay about Venice, already explored by Evelyn Waugh, Nicolas Roeg and Luchino Visconti, and it’s a pestilence that runs to affairs of the heart. Its characters, moving in and around San Marco and the canals and byways, seem more and more like rodents, and therefore one must ask whether, as the trio visit San Marco, and we barely notice something scurrying across the floor of the basilica – could it be a mouse? – whether even that was deliberate or just one of those lucky flukes. It’s no coincidence either that the opening sequence is set underground, a superbly controlled, smouldering dream, where Kate meets Merton on the underground, proceeding to go up to the light of day in the same lift, turning to each other to kiss passionately. Then, quickly, we awaken to Helena’s gorgeous hazel orbs, with a touch of mascara applied as if to prepare her for her own death.
Certainly Helena’s mournful demeanour is something to behold, as if the eternal rain – Venice, London, it’s always raining – has sunk to her very depths. She knows she can lead Merton’s bull like a toreador to a passionate alley tryst, but it’s as if she already fears that their relationship is doomed. It ends with the most shattering sex scene in living memory, as Helena strips, rolls up like a foetus, and prepares for a sexual release that, in its dying orgasm, represents the death of their love. It’s heartrending stuff, and a eulogy for falling in love with a memory, designed, costumed and scored to perfection and gorgeously shot by Serra. Yet amongst the praise for Bonham Carter, let us not forget her accomplice, the superb and underused Linus Roache, who drifts effortlessly from romantic ardour to contemptuous self-loathing. Dove is one of the best adaptations of James on film, Helena’s redemption, and one of the neglected greats of the nineties.
Not on my list. BUT… I agree 100% on your assessment of this film being one of the neglected gems of the decade. There is nary a misplaced step here. The forboding feel of this film is precisely because as beautiful as Venice is its still a dying place filled with shadow and malevolence. All the actors bring there A-game to their performances and, agreed, this is the high-water mark for Helena Bonham Carter (now Mrs. Tim Burton?). Methodical, elegant, crass at times, always fascinating. This is a pitch-perfect period melodrama of the highest order and one of my 10 favorites of 1997. All three cast members were coming off of great critical notices when this came along. Bonham Carter had HOWARDS END. Anders garnered applause for THE SPITFIRE GRILL. Roach is absolutely unforgettable in PRIEST. Together here in WINGS they create fire.
One of the most disturbing doubletwists a viewer can wreak on himself is to ask–even in the face of Kate and Merton’s terrible guilt– What exactly have they done wrong? These needy, opportunistic young lovers are misleading a dying girl for their own ends–but with a charade so romantic, so warming, that it makes Millie’s last days happy. And their punishment is in the deed: Merton comes to love her. The irony of the plot is that it’s fragile Millie’s kind, pure heart that is healthy; and the two glowing, vibrant conspirators who are “sick”—psychically dying, as the very disturbing sex scene at the end proves.
MARGARET-That brief capsule you wrote above probably summed up every feeling and thought I’ve had about this film in a few well constructed sentences. It would have taken me PAGES to get that point across. TOTALLY AGREED with every point you make.
Great review – I agree this is film is a masterpiece and that it is pervaded with the feeling of Venice rotting around the characters. After reading your account, I’ve got to watch it again! It will also be interesting to see it again after watching ‘Days of Heaven’ because of the similarity of the central love triangle, which I remember RD Finch pointing out on The Movie Projector.
And, Judy, don’t forget to look for the mouse scurrying along the floor of San Marco, you need to be very eagle-eyed to spot it.
Not sure if this is neglected, it is certainly considered one of very few interpretations of James books that succeeds. HBC and LR were very good but the girl who played Millie Theale also kind of offset the two in the right kind of way.