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 Studio: Polygram USA Video Theatrical Release Date: December 24, 1996 Sales Rank: 13504
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
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
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, ... 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 ... 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 ... Read More
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 ... Read More
Rating: - A LUSH AND BEAUTIFUL PERIOD PIECE...
Jane Campion is a brilliant director who can direct a film and convey much with a minimum of language and action. Her film, "The Piano" is a testament to that innate talent. This would lead one to believe that directing ... Read More
- The film, like Isabel Archer, is bursting with promise unfulfilled
- The portrait of a BAD screenplay
- Complex,, thought-provoking