Review: The Wings of the Dove (1997)

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The Wings of the Dove

Rating

Director

Iain Softley

Screenplay

Hossein Amini (Novel: Henry James)

Length

1h 42m

Starring

Helena Bonham Carter, Linus Roache, Alex Jennings, Charlotte Rampling, Ben Miles, Philip Wright, Michael Gambon, Alexander John, Alison Elliott, Elizabeth McGovern

MPAA Rating

Basic Plot

A wealthy British society girl is in love with a poor man and in the time period would never be allowed to marry out of the class system.

Review

The Wings of the Dove is an intriguing film that often lets actions and expressions speak louder than words. This fact is one of the major strong points of the film.

Among the other positive moments in the film is a stunning performance by Helena Bonham Carter, her performance as Kate adds to the year’s standout female roles this year. Her character plays naive, but is a lonely woman in love with a man whom she can never marry because of his wealth and class situation.

Her friend Millie, played by Alison Elliott, falls in love herself with this downtrodden man, but can marry him because she is not of the British class system.

Linus Roache is the handsome impoverished young man that these two women fall in love with. His performance is superior to that of Elliott’s, but can never overshadow the film. He has charisma and charm and together they make this film very enjoyable.

The canals of Venice are breathtaking and the direction is astute. Some of the camera shots are inspired and entertaining and the whole film sufferes only slightly.

The film’s failings fall in the generally predictable plot, which, at the end, turns out to be unpredictable. The film, however, keeps your interest and Bonham Carter makes you feel her lust and pain so easily that hers is one of the finest performances of the year.