The Portrait of a Lady

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Summary: Most wonderful film; most wonderful lady!
Review: I loved this film when I watched it in jan 1997. I have not watched it since because I do not want to spoil the poignancy of my memory of it. It is in my mind as one of the most moving pieces of cinema I have ever seen, with a powerful score and an evil John Malkovich character. Nicole Kidman was flawless in it and the final scene will never leave me. Odd bit at the beginning, though, with lots of young women in modern dress looking moody and sulky and not saying much really.

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Summary: Portrait of a Lady
Review: I loved this particular perfomance when I saw it on television and decided to purchase the DVD. The quality is so poor, so dark that the scenes are a dark mass with few details, especially the faces, dresses and room settings. I was very dissapointed. I am still waiting for my refund - an ongoing problem since October
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Summary: Beautiful, but somehow lacking
Review: I was very familiar with the novel by James before watching the movie, which was both good and bad for my enjoyment of the movie. The acting is very solid throughout, with John Malcovitch excelling in his role of a shallow, but charismatic man with an obsessive need to control the people he considers his. But I wonder if we're not given enough of the depth of the novel to explain Isabelle's reasoning and motivations. It's possible that the novel can't be captured, despite a director's good intentions. The prologue and the strange take on some scenes were odd, but did present an interesting twist to the story, and they didn't bother me. However, I think there is a slow pace that builds effectively, and a slow pace that will loose the viewer. Unfortunatly, for many stretches in the movie, I found myself drifting, looking out the window, picking up a book for a moment...not captured by what was going on on screen. The final half-hour is wonderful, but getting there may take a lot of patience.

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Summary: Perfect for fans of Henry James, otherwise buyer beware.
Review: I will admit right away that I personally don't care for James' writing. However, since I don't care for Dickens' writing, either, but have found film adaptations of his novels entertaining, I thought I'd give this movie a chance. I won't make the same mistake twice - I've never seen a more depressing movie in my life.

However, if you're determined to see it anyway, I will try and give an objective review: The music is absolutely beautiful. The sets are absolutely magnificent. The costumes are absolutely gorgeous. The direction is almost perfect (would be absolutely, except for a couple of angled camera scenes that seemed artificially artsy to me). The acting is absolutely wonderful. And if you're wondering why I'm overusing a certain word, its because of Malkovich's character: Forget all the criminals you've seen him play - Osmond is by far the most evil character he's ever portrayed - and in spite of the beautifully directed and performed seduction scene, is NOT absolutely in love with Isabel. As for what she sees in him - take a look at her fantasy scene earlier in the picture. What she sees is pure lust on her part, plus her own imagination.

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Summary: Love amoung the repressed!
Review: I would have to say that Kidman is outstanding in this film as well as Martin Donovan, who plays her plays her sickly cousin.
Some might find this film boring and too long, this is probaly because there are no car chases, ha!
I love the end the best, it is great:)

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Summary: Brilliant work, indeed
Review: I would just like to ad one more voice or vote to the number of people who found this film truly brilliant. Its stunning photography, actors' work and much debated SLOWNESS (very atypical to American movies indeed) manage to build up and produce true drama. A drama in which much is told by not saying much at all. If you manage to get yourself deep into the mood of the film, you will be surprised about its emotional intensity. And - about so sad, yet so lifted feeling at the end.

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Summary: overflowing with beauty, dignity and intelligence
Review: I would not be writing a review if I had something negative to say about this film. I am more energetic when I have something good to say and this movie completely fullfills this. I have been fond of this film for some time now. It took me months to realize just how deeply I was touched by it and how it stayed with me continually. Henry touches on FEMALE NATURE, and the foolishness of women to want an abusive husband. Henry couldn't do better with knowning a woman's soul literally. I have never seen a man be so wise in reading women like books. I am attracted to Ms. Archer because she reminds me so much of myself. It was quite evident that she was terrified of intimacy, and almost wanted someone to abuse her. Throughout the whole movie, she screamed inwardly, " SAVE ME from myself." Many people have mentioned the word "masochist" in describing her character and I believe they are correct. To some level, most women are masochists. There is a battle between the sexes. This movie touches on it. Women, like Ms. Archer are afraid of REAL men who don't easily fall for them. When Ms. Archer supposedly returns to her husband Oswand, it shows her in-ability to grow and break away from him and her wanting abuse. The film touches on so much psychology of the female, I could go on forever. I only wished she would have given up and had been strong, and married the other respectable gentleman at the end of the film, and starved the other side of her till it vanished. With all respect and dignity I can give in my review, SEE THIS FILM. It touched me deeply and is still with me.

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Summary: A Unique Way of Looking at James
Review: If one is to compare this movie to the glorious book, one can only conclude that this endevor to film another Henry James novel is a very unfortunate attempt. Being Jane Campion's fan ever since "The Piano," I decided to watch the film as a work of its own, not based on James' book or anything else. The results were as follows. The movie isn't all that bad- the musical scores are beautiful, the actors are all right (with the exception of John Malkovich- he is a terrible Osmond), and the settings are charming. As the movie progresses from England to Florence to Rome and then back to England again, the protagonist, Isabel Archer (Nicole Kidman) changes both internally and on the exterior. Jane Campion, as it always happens with 1990's directors, brought sex and feminism into the Victorian scenery. Feminism is understandable- you do feel it in the novel, but sex was a big no-no for James- for him it existed, as John Updike wittily observed, "only as a rumor." Some scenes were really miscreated- Isabel crying in the beginning of the film under a tree, or Osmond literally "fingering" Madame Merle with his index finger- that was just so comic. THAT I didn't expect from Campion. However, the film is full of other scenes, most of them very tastefully executed and gorgeous- the great Roman party, Madam Merle's conversation with Edward Rosier, and Ralph's death and funeral at the end. The ending, as John Updike said, is "frustrating." The saddest piano piece by Shubert is played as Ralph Touchett's coffin is lowered into the grave. As controversial as it is, "The Portrait of a Lady" is much better than the 2000 production of James's other novel- "The Golden Bowl," with Uma Thurman.

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Summary: Lush, But Lifeless
Review: In Jane Campion's version of Henry James' "Portrait of a Lady", many important elements of the novel are intact: the heroine's search for a life outside of society's strictures, the machinations of the 'villains' in the piece, the ambiguity of certain situations. However, from the start of the film, I found myself wondering what was going on: the mixture of color, b/w, 'old time' film styles was confusing and unnecessary to what is a period film with a strong enough narrative and point of view. Even the opening credits made no sense with the rest of the film, and were not tied to anything else. Nicole Kidman, Barbara Hershey, and John Malkovich are good, but other characters, such as Mary Louise Parker's Henrietta, make no sense if you haven't read the book. Some of the sequences felt edited to the extent of loss of continuity, and the transformation of Kidman's character into someone looking like Hershey's isn't mentioned, and no one seems to care that Kidman's hair miraculously changes color and texture the minute she is in England. Disconcerting. At least Campion took the abrupt and ambiguous ending seriously, although if you haven't read the book, it seems as if the film just ran out of ideas, not to mention steam. Points for the costumes and locations.

Rating:
Summary: How does it end?
Review: Isabel, played by Nicole Kidman, is not sure what she wants. After her parents' death, she travels to England to live with her uncle and cousin. She leaves a suitor behind in Boston. The movie opens with a proposal of marriage by another suitor, which Isabel turns down. She is not sure whether she ever wants to marry. She wants to remain free and do great things.

Isabel has a unique relationship with her consumptive cousin. If anyone, she loves him. Her American suitor follows her to England in a failed attempt to woe her. Isabel says to leave her alone for another two years.

Her uncle dies leaving her a great fortune. She travels to Italy and meets a man (played by John Malcovich) she can't stop thinking about, even as she tours the world. After two years her American suitor calls again, and Isabel again turns him down. After marrying, Isabel soon learns that her husband only married her for her money, and her life turns very unhappy.

Isabel's step daughter, Pansy, falls in love, but her father won't let her marry her love. Pansy is afraid to disobey her father who insists on a match with a rich man. Isabel finds herself in the middle of the matchmaking, and is blamed when a suitor (one of her former suitors as well) becomes disinterested.

Isabel goes to her cousin on his death bed in England, leaving her husband against his wishes. This escape frees her. After a tearful good bye with her cousin, Isabel encounters her old American suitor once again. Played by Viggo Mortensen, his tender, unwavering love for Isabel is the highlight of the movie.

As always, Isabel runs from him, but in the last moment she turns. The movie leaves us hanging. The viewer must imagine the ending.

The movie is a bit of a tragedy. How could a woman surrounded by so much love make such a poor decision?

Definitely not light hearted.