The Wings of the Dove is a downbeat brooding adaptation of the Henry James classic American novel of, as usual with Henry James, Americans abroad. The film, as the novel by the same name and almost all of James's novels, is about money and status and the power they confer on the individual.
Beautifully filmed, the scenes of Venice steal the show and are the film's real attraction. Helena Bonham Carter is good as Kate Croy, the schemer who persuades her lover, Merton Densher, played by Linus Roache, to marry a wealthy American woman who is dying, but overall, the film is lackluster, especially when compared with the much richer and more vibrant film by Jane Campion, The Portrait of a Lady (1996).
Henry James deals with subtle nuances of meaning and thought, but this is not why the film fails to satisfy. James's novels have been successfully filmed before, most notably by Jane Campion. In addition, the very Jamesian book by Edith Wharton, The Age of Innocence, was adapted into a wonderful film (The Age of Innocence, 1993) by Martin Scorsese. If the novelistic ambiguities of Henry James are not to blame for the film's failure, what is?
Perhaps the actors do not fully embody James's characters as portrayed in the novel. Linus Roache, for example, is slightly wooden in his portrayal of the radical social activist. Is he idealistic, a champion of the downtrodden, or merely a shallow opportunist who becomes a victimizer?
!!!!! SPOILER !!!!!
Alison Elliott plays an interesting Millie Theale, the American millionaire who loved both Carter and Roache, and her presence is felt long after she quits the mortal scene. Strangely enough, the one rather long nude scene with the beautiful Ms. Carter fails to be erotic. Instead, there is a morbid air of the tomb that surrounds the couple's frantic lovemaking.
The deep, black darkness of the love-making scene suggests that the soul of the dead Millie watches over them. After all, Millie was the bond that held them all together when she was alive. Her death will dissolve the bond of love and greed that unites Carter and Roache. Ultimately, the love scene fails because of the unpleasant associations with Millie and becomes simply depressing.
In a way, the film emphasizes the point, so well made in James Joyce's wonderful story from Dubliners, "The Dead," that the dead hold power over the living. The way the film builds up to this climax is its greatest triumph. (John Huston's adaptation of the James Joyce short story was his last film (The Dead [1987]), and a worthy addition to that director's list of masterworks.)
Beautifully filmed, the scenes of Venice steal the show and are the film's real attraction. Helena Bonham Carter is good as Kate Croy, the schemer who persuades her lover, Merton Densher, played by Linus Roache, to marry a wealthy American woman who is dying, but overall, the film is lackluster, especially when compared with the much richer and more vibrant film by Jane Campion, The Portrait of a Lady (1996).
Henry James deals with subtle nuances of meaning and thought, but this is not why the film fails to satisfy. James's novels have been successfully filmed before, most notably by Jane Campion. In addition, the very Jamesian book by Edith Wharton, The Age of Innocence, was adapted into a wonderful film (The Age of Innocence, 1993) by Martin Scorsese. If the novelistic ambiguities of Henry James are not to blame for the film's failure, what is?
Perhaps the actors do not fully embody James's characters as portrayed in the novel. Linus Roache, for example, is slightly wooden in his portrayal of the radical social activist. Is he idealistic, a champion of the downtrodden, or merely a shallow opportunist who becomes a victimizer?
!!!!! SPOILER !!!!!
Alison Elliott plays an interesting Millie Theale, the American millionaire who loved both Carter and Roache, and her presence is felt long after she quits the mortal scene. Strangely enough, the one rather long nude scene with the beautiful Ms. Carter fails to be erotic. Instead, there is a morbid air of the tomb that surrounds the couple's frantic lovemaking.
The deep, black darkness of the love-making scene suggests that the soul of the dead Millie watches over them. After all, Millie was the bond that held them all together when she was alive. Her death will dissolve the bond of love and greed that unites Carter and Roache. Ultimately, the love scene fails because of the unpleasant associations with Millie and becomes simply depressing.
In a way, the film emphasizes the point, so well made in James Joyce's wonderful story from Dubliners, "The Dead," that the dead hold power over the living. The way the film builds up to this climax is its greatest triumph. (John Huston's adaptation of the James Joyce short story was his last film (The Dead [1987]), and a worthy addition to that director's list of masterworks.)