Maria L
I've probably seen this film 50 times since it first came out. I think it's exquisite
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
01/26/24
Full Review
matthew d
Beautiful empathy towards how women feel.
Jane Campion's period romance drama The Portrait of a Lady (1996) is a stunning piece of arthouse filmmaking. Campion's film The Piano (1993) really impressed me with her striking visual style and effortless emotional resonance and The Portrait of a Lady presents itself with flourishes of elegant fashion and graceful empathy. Campion was unfairly panned as director because her lovely directing, visually innovative storytelling is deeply expressive. You can understand each emotional moment with a quick look or motion of a hand. Stuart Dryburgh's cinematography captivates you with gorgeous wide shots, strange angles, and revealing close-ups with a smooth gracefulness to every panning shot. The Portrait of a Lady is one of the finest dramas ever made as far as I'm concerned.
Nicole Kidman is devastating as innocent young lady Isabel Archer, manipulated into a loveless marriage, and abused instead of being with her true love. Kidman is subtle with her emotions, yet outpours waves of independent thoughts, earnest feelings, with nuanced displays of romance. Her character Isabel is one of literature and cinema's most sympathetic heroines. She's a gorgeous lady that you feel only heartbreak for in every poor choice and forced decision. Nicole Kidman gives one of her finest performances as a lead actress in Jane Campion's The Portrait of a Lady.
Richard E. Grant is very nice and fun as Isabel's nice suitor Lord Warburton. He is quite charming and even funny here. Viggo Mortensen is so handsome, charming, cool, and patient as Caspar Goodwood that he almost breaks the movie as you cannot believe Nicole Kidman would ever pass up either Viggo Mortensen or Richard E. Grant to marry John Malkovich. Martin Donovan gives his greatest acting performance in his supporting romantic role as Isabel's best friend and private confidant Ralph Touchett. Grant, Mortensen, and Donovan really outdid themselves with realistic and lovable male roles alongside Christian Bale too.
John Malkovich is so nihilistic, cruel, controlling, and manipulative as the clear villain, the seducer Gilbert Osmond. Barbara Hershey is excellent as the likable lady friend to Kidman, Madame Serena Merle, only to reveal herself to be a heinously selfish and commanding screen presence in her own right. Mary-Louise Parker is super funny, playful, and likable as Isabel's irreverent friend Henrietta Stackpole. Shelley Winters is wonderfully fun and perceptive as Mrs. Touchett. John Gielgud is quite kind and thoughtful as Mr. Touchett. Shelley Duvall is nice as the silly and good hearted Countess Gemini.
Christian Bale is very gentlemanly as the suitor Edward Rosier to a sweet young lady named Pansy Osmond, played by the ethereal beauty Valentina Cervi.
Janet Patterson's production design is remarkable with lavish estates, ornately furnished in every home herein The Portrait of a Lady. Martin Childs and Mark Raggett's art direction makes every scene look like a renaissance painting. Wojciech Kilar's sweeping orchestral score is beautiful with these lovely piano melodies throughout with soft romantic passages. Janet Patterson's period costumes are so breathtaking with intricate lace patterns, flowing gowns, and layered dresses for each scene and lady. Every gentleman has a tailored suit that looks unique.
Henry James' writing is fantastic with a shocking story full of intrigue, choices, manipulation, guilt, and romance. It's a long and hard novel to adapt, but Campion does it with a feminine perspective and feminist lens that allows you to completely relate and understand Isabel's character. Laura Jones had to adapt the book into a usable script by condensing characters, so I can see how some viewers might have gotten confused by certain characters' relations to others or what their motives are, but with Veronika Jenet's careful editing down to a watchable 144 minutes, I understood and enjoyed the plot.
In conclusion, The Portrait of a Lady is a resplendent film from New Zealand's phenomenal lady director Jane Campion. I hope viewers give it another chance all these years later.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
03/31/23
Full Review
Audience Member
This film has amazing cinematography and is well-acted but the direction does not reveal the frankly mystifying motivations of, and actions taken by, the central characters
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
02/11/23
Full Review
steve d
A pretentious and often boring script lets down it's actors.
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
03/30/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Campion's version of the novel by Henry James left me with mixed feelings.
The visuals are beautiful. At times the movie can be intense and make you emotionally invested in the characters to the point of being moved. Nicole Kidman's portrayal of Isabel is very convincing, as are Barbara Hershey's Madame Merle and Martin Donovan's Ralph.
The main problem to me was in the nature of Campion's reinterpretation. Since I thought that the best part of the book was its brilliant analysis of the characters' psyche I didn't appreciate too much their strong sexualization, which took away from them their tridimensional depth and also weakened my sympathy.
In the novel Isabel is an independent, strong-willed, clever young woman looking for adventure and intense experiences. She wants to live her life fully, to explore it in reality after she has observed it through other people and books. That's why she doesn't want to be married - above all things she values the freedom only recently gained thanks to her aunt's offer to introduce her in society. However, in the movie the traits that should be essential for Isabel's personality are only talked about briefly in the beginning, but are never shown. Then, they seem to be forgotten completely and Isabel becomes a sexually repressed woman who doesn't know what she wants and subsequently falls victim of Madame Merle and Osmond's plot.
Also, characters such as Lord Warburton, Caspar Goodwood and Henrietta, who are important both for Isabel's life and to define her character, are merely extras, a fact that I found surprising considering how long and slow the movie is.
I came to the conclusion that, had it be more faithful to the novel's nature, which is not erotic but psychological, human, with these visuals and this well chosen cast the movie would have been aesthetically beautiful and also relevant in the content.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
01/28/23
Full Review
Audience Member
The tone of James' classic novel is lost in Campion's new age feminist blubber. Some of the performances are a saving grace with Barbara Hershey as a standout. Nicole Kidman doesn't seem to have Isabel within her grasp and Malkovich's moustache twirling villain is so over the top that he seems ready to tie the audience to a train track at any given moment.
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
02/18/23
Full Review
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