Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4317 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

Brooding darkness
We rented this film because we were so impressed by many of its good reviews. However, we felt let down when we saw it. Much of the filming was done in very poor light (presumably deliberately), and even when the sun shone outside, it seemed that the camera preferrred to stay in the shadows. Despiute the fact that some reviewers loved this film, we found its pace achingly slow, focussing upon a lead character with whom we had no empathy. After half an hour or so we were so bored we abandoned watching this film.

Nicole Kidman cries all the time.
The picture is far too dark, colorless and corny, i could hardly recognize anything except Nicole Kidman crying all the time.

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.