Dripping sensuality from almost every frame, Iain Softley's film version of the Henry James novel is quite masterful. This is quite surprising since the film is set in England circa 1910. Films with settings in the past often exude romance and maybe even passion, but rarely do they exhibit the kind of refined eroticism that Softley generates here.

Helena Bonham Carter returns to territory of the historical drama she has often visited in her career, but here she brings us something new. Her Kate is not the typical female which history (as presented in the cinema) often affords us. Her character seems strong and resilient. She is stuck in a horrible position which leads her to sacrifice immensely in the area of romance and happiness. Yet Carter's ability to bring us a multidimensional character who radiates sexuality when encased in the seemingly restrictive period costume makes her Kate more than just a "victim." This is an awesome performance and worthy of the numerous accolades which Carter had sent her way.

Of course, the entire cast works wonders on screen to bring us this multidimensional film. Dickensian in it's attention to class struggle, the plot is also akin to romance novels and Forster style opulence. This is best exemplified in Kate's relationship with her aunt (Charlotte Rampling), her middle class love interest (Linus Roache as Merton) and her wealthy American friend (Allison Elliot as Millie). The plot intermingles these characters in a web of such subtle implications and such carefully crafted intricacies that we can only sit back and watch them unfold into the most saddening and heartbreaking conclusions. The relationship between these characters come alive in the hands of these exceptional actors. Meanwhile, Alex Jennings, Michael Gambon and Elizabeth McGovern add to the peripheral of this delicate lacework in aid of the greater good, although the latter could have been used for more than she is.

Director Softley recovers from the misstep he took with "Hackers" and once again proves, as he did with "Backbeat," that he is a director who can recreate the past with awesome perfection. His opulent yet realistic looking sets and locales add a verisimilitude to the film that sweeps us into it's characters and plot. The sequences shot in Venice, with it's beautiful decay are only overshadowed by his gifted ability at bringing us wonderful scenes shot in the rain. His frames which seem to emulate painting of the period are only subjugated by his sweeping camerawork, his crafty editing and his epic sequences set in art galleries and costume parties. When he takes us for gondola rides through the canal streets of Venice, and he does so several times, the awesome wonderment at a city rising from the water astounds us. It is a visual feast.

"The Wings of the Dove" is an amazing film. Cold and calculating as it main characters want to be, like the opulence in the film, the truth and the beauty of the individual behind the facade (the brick behind the plaster) comes through reluctantly. Like the sun from behind a cloud on a rainy day, the characters often shine only briefly, before their subtle fears and manipulations overtake them again. The script by Hossein Amini is a perfect example of how to present character, plot, exposition and theme with the slightest of hands. Like painting angels on the head of a pin, Amini crafts a masterpiece with the smallest appearance of movement. Delicate yet somehow elaborate on a epic scale, his script propels Softley and his cast in to providing one of the most subdued, erotic and crushing films of the genre.

"The Wings of the Dove" has a marvelous conclusion with a final sequence that is the perfect capper to the bold and resonant piece which has preceded it. Softley takes us deep into the heart and soul of his characters and their disquieting epilogue without any wordy dialogue, bad narration or cinematic gimmicks. It is simple a subtle moment that says everything. The perfect ending to this extraordinary film.

Notes:

The music by Ed Shearmur perfectly accentuates the film.

Filmed in London and Venice, Italy

Review written in 1998

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