Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7295 in DVD
• Released on: 2001-06-25
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Dubbed, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English, Italian
• Subtitled in: French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 139 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
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 dramatise, 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. --Jim Emerson

Special Features
16:9 Anamorphic Wide Screen
French\Italian\Spanish
English
English
Region 2
Dolby Digital 5.1 English French\Dolby Digital 2.0 Italian Spanish
Dolby Digital 5.1
Dolby Digital 2.0
Trailer
Documentary
Dutch\English\French\Italian\Portuguese\Spanish

Synopsis
Nicole Kidman stars in this dark, elaborate adaptation of Henry James's novel, director Jane Campion's follow-up to THE PIANO. American Isabel Archer (Kidman) visits her wealthy relatives in 1872 England, where she turns down an offer of marriage by a kind and rich suitor (Richard E. Grant) in order to see the world and experience life. Her consumptive cousin (Martin Donovan) is secretly in love with her and arranges that she inherit a fortune so she can fulfill this desire, but she lets herself be seduced into marriage by a manipulative, egotistical aesthete named Osmond (John Malkovich). As Osmond works to subjugate her, it's up to Isabel to see the truth and earn back her dying cousin's faith. The stellar cast includes Viggo Mortenson, Mary-Louise Parker, Shelley Winters, Christian Bale, Shelley Duvall, Valentina Cervi as Osmond's beautiful, dominated daughter, and, best of all, Barbara Hershey as Madame Servena, Isabel's scheming friend. The moving, nuanced performances are complemented and at times even eclipsed by Janet Patterson's ethereal costume designs, the decadently dark color schemes, and Campion's graceful camera movements.

Customer Reviews

COMPELLING
I must say I totally disagree with the somewhat mediocre reviews below. I consider "Portrait of a Lady" to be one of Jane Campion's best movies. The actors are magnificient.
Nicole Kidman is both beautiful and very moving as the gentle naive heroine who aspires to liberty and escaping her condition as a young woman intended to make a good marriage.
John Malkovich is truly the part of the sinister virtually sadistic husband. But he isn't the best, the most touching of all is Martin Donovan as the subdued cousin, slowly consuming from illness and unrequieted love.
The photography is beautiful, and certain sequences are truly magical: Nicole Kidman's strange daydream of John Malkovich's
burning declaration to her "I absolutely love you", (something between a 1920's silent movie and the Dali dream sequence in Hitchcocks' "Spellbound"),
and the deadly romantic Final sequence that starts with a kiss between Nicole Kidman and Viggo Mortensen and ends in slow motion on a beautiful score by Wojciech Kilar (coppola's Dracula)
If you love Period drama and strong deep emotion, this is a beautiful an compelling Movie.

WOW!
From the very first second to the very last i was totally transfixed. The acting in this movie is flawless and brilliant. Nicole does incredibly well as a young naive woman who finds she is uncapable of sticking to the same decision. I found myself rising up as if to defend her in her time of greatest need, when she was being emotionally and physically abused by her husband. As sad as the beginning may be, lots of tears, lots of building emotion and desperation to be loved, the ending made me breath a sigh of relief for Isabelle Archer. She'd found herself trapped and managed to set herself free again.

I HAVE to comment on the documentary included. It gives a closer look at the actors and let me tell you, it looked difficult. In preperation for her abusive scenes you see Nicole crying and frustrated and beating herself up. It compelled me almost as much as the film! If you buy this dvd (you must) then make sure to watch this bonus feature, you will realise that the life of an actor is not all it's cracked up to be.

Over all, a compelling and beautiful piece of drama.

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 an adaptation of a Henry James novel would be a natural segue for her.

While this is a lush and beautiful period piece, the problem with it is that it is somewhat dull. Despite stellar performances by Barbara Hershey and the supporting cast, the main star, Nicole Kidman, is out of her league, though she is a luminous beauty and has some acting ability. The problem is that her performance lacks the presence or depth necessary to transcend the material and make this a truly interesting film. She just is not good enough an actress to be able to carry this type of storyline and engage the viewer in the lead role of wealthy expatriate, Isabel Archer.

Moreover, while John Malkovich gives a wonderful performance as the malevolent Gilbert Osmond, he is decidedly miscast as he is simply not charismatic enough to make it believable that Isabel Archer would throw caution to the wind over such an unattractive and, decidedly, sinister man. It is unfortunate, as the film is an otherwise fairly faithful adaptation of Henry James' complex novel of the same name. It could have been a contender.