Review of The Portrait of a Lady (1996) by Stuart K — 10 Mar 2013

Directed by Jane Campion, who at the time had won an Oscar for her screenplay to The Piano (1993), after that, Hollywood came calling, and she was offered this adaptation of Henry James' 1881 serialised novel.

Despite having an all star cast and some lovely production design, the story is a bit cold and clinical. There's no real fireworks to move it along, despite the best efforts of the cast and crew, all doing 110%.

In Victorian England, American aristocrat Isabel Archer (Nicole Kidman) is a woman of independent means, who comes into money while in Europe. She had been visiting her cousin Ralph Touchett (Martin Donovan) and his elderly father (John Gielgud), the latter of whom becomes ill, and when he dies, leaves his estate to Isabel.

Now with money, she looks for a husband, after rejecting proposals from Lord Warburton (Richard E. Grant) and Caspar Goodwood (Viggo Mortensen), she feels she's found the right one with American expatriate Gilbert Osmond (John Malkovich), but Isabel finds herself being manipulated by Osmond's friend Madame Serena Merle (Barbara Hershey).

It's well made, with a powerful lead performance by Kidman, who is perfect for this, but the film does tend to drag, and it does tend to take ages to get to the point with the plot of the antagonists.

It should have been better, but it does look absolutely beautiful.