I bought the DVD-box without realizing that this production dated from 1968, some 40 years ago!! This obviously shows from the first minute on and takes some mental adjustment: the pace is extremely slow, the direction is very static, with no action whatsoever, the actors all just stand still or loiter about and deliver their extensive dialogues in a very distinct and outspoken way, very much as if you're watching a play on a stage. This theatrical feeling is enhanced by the fact that all of the "action" takes place indoors (apart from an occasional scene on a terrace within a cardboard decor of a supposed garden) and by the fact that there is no accompanying musical score, everything takes place in dead silence. Add this to the fact that the whole production takes some 4 ½ hours, and you seem to have all the ingredients for a terrible bore.
And then there's this remarkable thing: it's no bore at all, it's absolutely compelling entertainment of the highest level, that for all of these 4 ½ hours keeps you in awe and on the edge of your chair!! I never read this novel, or anything else from Henry James, so I cannot judge how true or free this adaptation is, but I guess that much of the dialogue comes right out of the novel itself, and I assure you that it's brilliant. Seldom did I watch and listened to such intelligent and cutting-edge lines, and if this is quintessential James, then I really have to start reading his work. Of course much credit has to go to screenwriter Jack Pulman (who was also responsible for the acclaimed "I Claudius"-series in 1976).
What you get is a gripping tale of a young girl Isabel who wants to be free to follow her own heart and dreams – however vague they are even to herself - and renounces the conventional path (in the late 19th century) of a marriage to one of her many rich and socially established suitors. In this process she stumbles over her own ambition when she at last marries an opportunistic up-start (Osmond) and fails to see the unselfish love that's right beside her (Ralph).
Most of the acting – if you can overlook the afore-mentioned out-dated style – is superb. I especially liked Rachel Gurney (a few years later starring in the famous series "Upstairs, Downstairs"), who portrays the devious but always self-possessed and aristocratic madame Merle, and Beatrix Lehman as Isabel's unconventional aunt. James Maxwell as Gilbert Osmond is blood-chilling in his over-civilized condescension, and Kathleen Byron is very convincing as his subversive sister. Suzanne Neve's performance as Isabel may be a bit too direct and outspoken, as she delivers all of her lines in the form of deliberate statements, which at times gets a bit wearisome. But this somehow also blends in with her character and besides she is a radiant beauty and very convincing in her evolution from the unspoilt young girl that wants to conquer the world to the mature lady who finally accepts her own faults.
To me however the absolute star of this production is Richard Chamberlain, 34 years old at the time and at his most elegant, debonair, and stunningly beautiful best! His acting seems like no acting at all, it's so natural, he really IS Ralph: civilized, intelligent, outwardly detached and cynical but at the same time gentle, warm and caring. Chamberlain gives a brilliant performance and even the death-bed scene, where cheap sobs always lie lurking around the corner, is in his hands totally convincing.
My only disappointment lies in the abrupt ending: after the death of Ralph we get some sort of anticlimax, as we hear that Isabel has returned to Italy, possibly to her husband, and two of her friends decide to follow her. And then, wham: "The end". Is this really the ending that Henry James provided?! I can cope with deliberate open endings that leave you wondering, but this feels like the movie was just chopped off. When they would have ended it 3 minutes earlier, I would have been totally satisfied!
And then there's this remarkable thing: it's no bore at all, it's absolutely compelling entertainment of the highest level, that for all of these 4 ½ hours keeps you in awe and on the edge of your chair!! I never read this novel, or anything else from Henry James, so I cannot judge how true or free this adaptation is, but I guess that much of the dialogue comes right out of the novel itself, and I assure you that it's brilliant. Seldom did I watch and listened to such intelligent and cutting-edge lines, and if this is quintessential James, then I really have to start reading his work. Of course much credit has to go to screenwriter Jack Pulman (who was also responsible for the acclaimed "I Claudius"-series in 1976).
What you get is a gripping tale of a young girl Isabel who wants to be free to follow her own heart and dreams – however vague they are even to herself - and renounces the conventional path (in the late 19th century) of a marriage to one of her many rich and socially established suitors. In this process she stumbles over her own ambition when she at last marries an opportunistic up-start (Osmond) and fails to see the unselfish love that's right beside her (Ralph).
Most of the acting – if you can overlook the afore-mentioned out-dated style – is superb. I especially liked Rachel Gurney (a few years later starring in the famous series "Upstairs, Downstairs"), who portrays the devious but always self-possessed and aristocratic madame Merle, and Beatrix Lehman as Isabel's unconventional aunt. James Maxwell as Gilbert Osmond is blood-chilling in his over-civilized condescension, and Kathleen Byron is very convincing as his subversive sister. Suzanne Neve's performance as Isabel may be a bit too direct and outspoken, as she delivers all of her lines in the form of deliberate statements, which at times gets a bit wearisome. But this somehow also blends in with her character and besides she is a radiant beauty and very convincing in her evolution from the unspoilt young girl that wants to conquer the world to the mature lady who finally accepts her own faults.
To me however the absolute star of this production is Richard Chamberlain, 34 years old at the time and at his most elegant, debonair, and stunningly beautiful best! His acting seems like no acting at all, it's so natural, he really IS Ralph: civilized, intelligent, outwardly detached and cynical but at the same time gentle, warm and caring. Chamberlain gives a brilliant performance and even the death-bed scene, where cheap sobs always lie lurking around the corner, is in his hands totally convincing.
My only disappointment lies in the abrupt ending: after the death of Ralph we get some sort of anticlimax, as we hear that Isabel has returned to Italy, possibly to her husband, and two of her friends decide to follow her. And then, wham: "The end". Is this really the ending that Henry James provided?! I can cope with deliberate open endings that leave you wondering, but this feels like the movie was just chopped off. When they would have ended it 3 minutes earlier, I would have been totally satisfied!