The Wings of the Dove (1997)

I only watched this movie because I was bored one afternoon, and it had a relatively high rating. I was expecting something along the lines of a very slow moving Merchant-Ivory period drama. The storyline was much more compelling than that. Through much of the film, I was thinking that I've seen similar stories on soap operas, and I knew how this was going to end. However, midway through the film, the story line ended up taking very interesting twists and turns. By the end of the film, I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see what was going to happen. The film was lushly photographed, well paced, and suspenseful. It made me want to read the original source material.

Fmovies: The Wings of the Dove (1997)

Yes, this is a quite, indirect, thoughtful movie. But it is never slow. And the acting is incredible, almost as incredible as all the dresses and interior sets, which will blow anyone's mind. The story, by Henry James (the master of indirect but probing feelings), is about love of all kinds. And about being a good person, really. Three of the four main leads struggle with doing the right thing (and they do the right thing). The fourth struggles, falters, then comes forward again, then falters, finally, by making a demand that can never be met.

It's unfair to compare this kind of period movie (set around 1910 even though James's book was published in 1902) to "A Room with a View" (set in the same decade) but the reason this happens is that the 1985 Merchant-Ivory masterpiece seemed to open up a new way of making period films, filled with beauty and lingering thoughts and, well, feeling. Not the feeling two people have for each other, but a feeling of a time and place. It so happens the star of this 1997 film, Helena Bonham Carter, also starred (magnificently) in the first one.

The other star is a man, Linus Roache, who almost overplays his understated character by making him dry and deadpan and polite. But it works, over time, to help make the final few seconds of the film (which are so important) succeed. The third lead, really, in this lopsided triangle, is Alison Elliott, who puts in an equally subtle performance. So much of the movie is about little changes in facial expression, the acting had to rise to the needs of the plot. Bonham Carter, above all, does this with chilling perfection.

But those dresses! This is what is called Edwardian England, the first decade of the 20th Century, a time when modernity swept Europe with a passion (Picasso and Klimt) and when cars and other new technologies were surging. The styles of the dresses are part Art Nouveau, with its Asian influences, and part European excess, a showing off of style and wealth and material sensibility. Thank god! It's just breathtaking. The interiors are likewise brimming with tiles and flowers and paintings and light of all kinds.

All of this is handled with a cinematic control that reminds me of the color coordination of mid-century Technicolor films, where the palette of a scene is often limited to a pair of colors. You'll see many scenes where a mix of blue and rusty orange are the only two colors in various guises (and these are most common because of the hair and eyes of Elliott). The cinematography is by Eduardo Serra, one of a handful of the most sumptuous contemporary shooters in film ("Girl with the Pearl Earring" and "What Dreams May Come"). And he lets the light and color inhabit every scene, never letting the photography get in the way. Just beautiful.

So what does it mean to be a good person? Who cares with all this great acting and beautiful filming? But really, you do care, and it's a touching and provoking film in all its quietness. And it's not a bit obscure. Henry James never quite liked the book, but I think it's because he expected more from it, the themes and characters are so promising. Critics have come to see it as one of his great late novels, and that much is here. Director Iain Softley takes a couple of turns that the book avoids--a little sensational talk toward the beginning, and a frank and sex scene at the end--and both are okay in the film but not actually in keeping with the tone of the rest o

There are two tests in my mind for a classic film.

First, it must plant some images permanently in your life. Very few films do that. Two films that are cogent to discussing this one are Helena Bonham Carter's Ophelia in Zefferelli's `Hamlet.' She and Glenn Close acted circles around the guys -- her expression in the midst of the play within the play is lasting over years in my memory. The whole film revolves around that moment.

Also lasting are several images from the ostensibly unambitious `Oscar and Lucinda.' But I also carry many lasting film images that are junk, courtesy of Lucas and Spielberg. That brings us to the second condition: for a film to be classic, evocation of the images, the remembrance, needs to be multidimensional, to elevate rather than dumb down.

Measured by those rules, this film is remarkable. For a few years, I have carried the image of the next to last scene where Carter makes love and in the act discovers the truth about her love. This is so wonderful, so tragic, so true that it has stuck with me, together with the secondary images, the memories of Venice and Millie that Merton is in love with. I hope to follow this woman's career for decades. I wonder where it will go?

The Wings of the Dove fmovies. Kate (Helena Bonham Carter) is a young woman in love with a poor journalist, Merton (Linus Roache). Its Edwardian England and, having no money of her own, Kate lives with a wealthy aunt (Charlotte Rampling) who is avid to marry Kate well. Thus, the beautiful lady will not be free to wed Merton or any man of her choosing, if he doesn't have the goods. They meet secretly and passionately, even arranging a clandestine trip to Italy. Once there, the two cross paths with an extremely wealthy American, Millie (Alison Elliott) who casts her eye on Merton. Since neither Kate nor Merton have revealed that they are a couple, a difficult triangle is created, for Millie also chooses Kate as a friend. This becomes even more complex when the British duo learn that Millie, despite being young and beautiful, is incredibly ill with a respiratory ailment. Temptation arrives. What would happen, Kate asks Merton, if HE romances Millie, marries her and inherits her wealth upon her death? Why, the secret lovers would be set for life! Merton is appalled at the idea of making advances on a dying girl but, eventually, gives in. What neither Kate or Merton count on is the young gentleman's growing attraction to Millie, for she is sweet and funny as well as very lovely. Is tragedy in the future for this trio? Unfortunately, yes. This stunningly gorgeous film, based on the novel of Henry James, is a superior piece of movie making that cannot be denied. The three actors, Bonham Carter, Roache, and Elliott are extremely compelling in their difficult roles and all of the lesser cast members do fine work, too. Then, the setting in Italy, mostly, is lovely, with cinematography of the very finest. Costumes, too, are gorgeous, especially Elliott's garments and accessories. But, naturally, it is the powerful story of love and deception, with tragic results, that is the strongest asset of all. It should be stated that there are a couple of explicitly sexual scenes that might upset a few viewers. But, for the majority of film fans, they will be accepted as a necessary part of the story's elements. If you have never picked up this film, don't delay! Wings of the Dove is a soaring achievement that should be seen by everyone who loves great cinema.

This one really took me by surprise, in the best way possible. The story is a perfect blend of suspense and romance that is flawlessly engaging from start to finish. I couldn't help but keep my eyes glued to the screen the entire time. It flows beautifully and never moves too far ahead or too slow for the viewer. There wasn't a single second where I was bored or waiting for the film to end. I'm not usually the biggest fan of a period romance, but I was blown away by this one. The score is incredible. It sets the perfect ambiance for the film and makes you feel like you are with these characters. The ending left me in a complete catharsis. I was just numb, staring at the screen in disbelief. Helena Bonham Carter is unexplainably phenomenal. She is one of a rare breed of actors who can display more emotion simply with her eyes than most actors can with their entire body. I feel blessed to watch her perform. Her extreme versatility and authenticity is unparalleled. Her performance is the best from a female that I've ever seen. The Academy should be in jail for giving the Oscar to the mediocre Helen Hunt over Bonham Carter's flawless tour de force.

This was not one of my favorite novels when I read it (for James, I prefer THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY), but this is a very good film. Director Iain Softley and writer Hossein Amini made the smart decision to move this up in time to the 1910's, which enables them to get to the passions more than James does here. Softley also makes this darker than most literary adaptations, in look and in tone, without suffocating it, and he avoids making this a film about production design rather than about a story. He does labor a bit in trying for tragedy, but that's only a quibble.

Alison Elliot, a good actress (I liked her in THE UNDERNEATH and the otherwise flawed THE SPITFIRE GRILL), takes awhile to warm up as Millie, because she seems a little too modern, but she avoids easy sentiment as the dying heiress. Linus Roache, who I thought was a little awkward in PRIEST, here avoids the trap of being the third wheel, making us understand what both Millie and Kate see in Merton. But the real triumph here is Helena Bonham Carter, who gave the best performance of the year. One character says of Kate, "There's something going on behind those beautiful lashes," and that can usually be said of the characters Carter plays, but sometimes she's overly detached. Here, she's completely engaged, and she pulls off the difficult trick of never losing our sympathies even when her character does something despicable. And where James sort of made Kate just manipulative, Carter makes her human and longing.