Wide Sargasso Sea

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Wide Sargasso Sea

R

1993

1h 36m

Drama

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65%

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20 Reviews

38%

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1,000+ Ratings

In the wake of Jamaican emancipation, French colonist Annette Cosway (Rachel Ward) falls into poverty and marries racist Englishman Paul Mason (Michael York). But when Annette's young son dies in a fire started by former slaves, Mason flees to England, leaving his grief-stricken wife and her Creole daughter Antoinette (Karina Lombard) behind. Soon Antoinette learns she must marry to claim her inheritance and sets her sights on Rochester (Nathaniel Parker), an Englishman eerily similar to Mason.

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Owen Gleiberman

Entertainment Weekly

Rated: B+

Sep 7, 2011

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Lawrence Cohn

Variety

An uneven but ultimately engrossing feature.

Mar 26, 2009

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Time Out

A strange, dark, muddled dream of a movie, occasionally risible but rarely boring.

Jan 26, 2006

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Brian D. Johnson

Maclean's Magazine

Lombard is weak in the central role. Although her character's mind is supposed to be at stake, it is hard to find much evidence of it behind her one-note performance.

Oct 11, 2019

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Mark Amory

The Spectator

The film dies too, because we do not care about or understand Antoinette.

Jul 24, 2018

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Malcolm Johnson

Hartford Courant

At its heart, Wide Sargasso Sea tells of the ruination of a marriage -- by the past, by the time, by the fears of a man and desperation of a woman. Yet Duigan also presents a searing vision of the effects of colonialism.

May 31, 2018

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FF S

I enjoyed the movie more than I expected to. While the acting was not outstanding, the film captured the Caribbean extraordinarily well. And the story is a wonderful bookend to Jane Eyre. I am glad that I saw it.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/20/24

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Audience Member

A sad and tragic story based on a character in Charlotte Bronte's novel Jane Eyre during mid-19th Century Jamaica.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/22/23

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Audience Member

This version was even more sad than the remake. What a horrible thing to be loved and then cast aside for no good reason. Rochester did Antoinette wrong, plain and simple. He took the light out of her eyes, he stole her very spirit. It was soul-crushing to watch the shell of a person he turned her into. A very sad movie indeed.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/14/23

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Audience Member

I was attracted to the movie as I recently learned about what and where the Sargasso Sea is. There is not much to learn watching this movie however. Well perhaps you learn not to be born in the mid 17th century, and to treat your slaves with a little compassion.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/27/23

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Audience Member

I saw this pretentious adaptation of John Rhys' novel years ago, and then caught it again on cable. What a waste of talent! The tropical setting supposedly mirrors the inner passions of the characters...Obvious, dreary, and heavy going from the word go...

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

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Audience Member

I saw it again (5 years later or so) and it was ok

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/21/23

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John Duigan

Director

Karina Lombard

Antoinette Cosway

Nathaniel Parker

Edward Rochester

Rachel Ward

Annette Cosway

Michael York

Paul Mason

Martine Beswick

Aunt Cora

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Synopsis

In the wake of Jamaican emancipation, French colonist Annette Cosway (Rachel Ward) falls into poverty and marries racist Englishman Paul Mason (Michael York). But when Annette's young son dies in a fire started by former slaves, Mason flees to England, leaving his grief-stricken wife and her Creole daughter Antoinette (Karina Lombard) behind. Soon Antoinette learns she must marry to claim her inheritance and sets her sights on Rochester (Nathaniel Parker), an Englishman eerily similar to Mason.

Director: John Duigan
Producer: Jan Sharp
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 20, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $1.4M
Runtime: 1h 36m
Sound Mix: Surround

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