The Wings of the Dove

I can't believe there are only two comments for this film. It's a subtle film and a rare one in which your feelings for the characters change. I have read the book, and seen all the other films made of Henry James novels, and this one is by far the best at translating at least some of the moral ambiguity at the heart of most James novels.

Helena plays a woman forced to give up her boyfriend Merton because he has no money. She meets and befriends a wealthy, but terminally ill American, Milly. She decides that Merton will court Milly, inherit all of Milly's money when she dies, and have the funds to marry Helena. The film is about Merton's moral awakening as he realizes how horrible what he's doing is, and WHO Helena's character really is.

You would have to read the novel to understand how difficult it is to adapt this material, and what a great job they really have done. Bring your hankies for the scene near the end (not in the novel, actually) in which Merton apologizes to Milly. This invented scene crystallizes all of the emotion and makes the movie fulfilling in a way a straight working of the novel could not have been.

Helena is good, but her character is simplified somewhat from the book. I think this should have at least been up for Best Picture. See it.

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"The Wings of the Dove" poetically unveils itself with beautiful visuals and explorations in to the complexities of desire. A tragic irony, with an excellent finale. This movie also contains the most painfully emotive sex scene that I have ever seen; as it is honest and detailed with emotions that so rarely are captured this brilliantly in 'art'. This movie is intimate.

This was not one of my favorite novels when I read it (for James, I prefer THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY), but this is a very good film. Director Iain Softley and writer Hossein Amini made the smart decision to move this up in time to the 1910's, which enables them to get to the passions more than James does here. Softley also makes this darker than most literary adaptations, in look and in tone, without suffocating it, and he avoids making this a film about production design rather than about a story. He does labor a bit in trying for tragedy, but that's only a quibble.

Alison Elliot, a good actress (I liked her in THE UNDERNEATH and the otherwise flawed THE SPITFIRE GRILL), takes awhile to warm up as Millie, because she seems a little too modern, but she avoids easy sentiment as the dying heiress. Linus Roache, who I thought was a little awkward in PRIEST, here avoids the trap of being the third wheel, making us understand what both Millie and Kate see in Merton. But the real triumph here is Helena Bonham Carter, who gave the best performance of the year. One character says of Kate, "There's something going on behind those beautiful lashes," and that can usually be said of the characters Carter plays, but sometimes she's overly detached. Here, she's completely engaged, and she pulls off the difficult trick of never losing our sympathies even when her character does something despicable. And where James sort of made Kate just manipulative, Carter makes her human and longing.

It is London in 1910 and protagonist Kate Croy, a beautiful young woman, is living with her wealthy but controlling aunt. Kate has fallen in love with Merton Densher, a journalist of whom her aunt disapproves and forbids her to see. Her aunt is pushing her in the direction of the 'more suitable' Lord Mark. When wealthy young American heiress Milly Theale arrives on the scene Lord Mark informs Kate that Milly is dying and he intends to marry her for her money, to save his estates, before returning to Kate... Kate decides Merton should be the one getting close to Milly so, during an extended holiday in Venice guides them together... there is a risk though; what if he falls in love with her?

I've not read the book on which this film is based so can't say how they compare; but as a work in its own right I really enjoyed it. The romance feels real, with Kate clearly knowing she is taking a risk... both that her aunt will disinherit her for seeing Merton and that he might genuinely fall for Milly. The setting is beautifully realised but never feels dated... which it shouldn't as whatever present one is in feels modern for those people in it. Helena Bonham Carter does a brilliant job in the role of Kate; she shows what Kate is feeling with the subtlest of expressions; she also makes it easy to sympathise with Kate even while she is being morally ambiguous. Linus Roache and Alison Elliott impress as Merton and Milly respectively and the rest of the cast is solid. The film looks great from start to finish as it moves from London to Venice. Overall I'd definitely recommend this to fans of period dramas.

Not all of Henry James' work has adapted well to screen, but there are three film adaptations especially that were adapted beautifully and are brilliant films in their own right. They are 1949's The Heiress (my personal favourite), 1961's The Innocents and this.

It is hard to decide where to begin praising The Wings of the Dove, but a definite starting point would be the production values. Simply put, The Wings of the Dove is not only one of the most visually stunning films personally seen in recent memory but also one of the most beautiful ever, strongly reminiscent of a Merchant-Ivory film. It's exquisitely shot, especially in the Venetian scenes and the final scene between Millie and Merton, the settings and period detail are so colourful and evocative and The Wings of the Dove has to contain some of the best and jaw-droppingly amazing costume design in all of film. The sensitive and beautifully elegant music score and rightly restrained direction also add a great deal.

Hossein Amini received an Oscar nomination for the film's script, and it is not hard to see why. It is a literate, deliciously dark and beautifully nuanced script that is never devoid of emotion, and adapts very difficult source material remarkably cleverly and with utmost coherence. The story is deliberate in pace, but dark and poignant- the latter scenes being incredibly powerful emotionally- and it is throughout told with complete control and respect for James' work. It also succeeds brilliantly as a mood piece, the darkness, poignancy and lyricism very well brought out. The characters also fascinate, compellingly real and human rather than labelled just good and bad.

The Wings of the Dove contains fine performances, with that of Helena Bonham Carter ranking among the year's and her best, her character makes some questionable decisions to put it lightly but the many nuances Bonham Carter brings to the role allows one to really sympathise with her and understand why she makes them. Allison Elliot was also charming and heart-breaking in a role that easily could have been played annoyingly or blandly in lesser hands, and Linus Roache handles the hardest role of the whole film and story very, very well. Charlotte Rampling, Michael Gambon, Elizabeth McGovern and Alex Jennings are all talented actors too and give excellent support.

All in all, wonderful film and one of the best Henry James film adaptations ever made. 10/10 Bethany Cox