The Golden Bowl (2000)

A man marries an heiress for her money even though he is actually in love with her friend.

Director:

James Ivory

Writers:

Henry James (novel), Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (screenplay)

Stars:

Kate Beckinsale, James Fox, Jeremy Northam

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kate Beckinsale	...	Maggie Verver
James Fox	...	Colonel Bob Assingham
Anjelica Huston	...	Fanny Assingham
Nick Nolte	...	Adam Verver
Jeremy Northam	...	Prince Amerigo
Madeleine Potter	...	Lady Castledean
Uma Thurman	...	Charlotte Stant
Nicholas Day	...	Lord Castledean
Peter Eyre	...	A.R. Jarvis, Shopkeeper
Nickolas Grace	...	Lecturer
Robin Hart	...	Mr. Blint
Daniel Byam Shaw	...	Principino at Five Years
Francesco Giuffrida	...	Duke's Younger Son
Marta Paola Richeldi	...	The Duchess
Rossano Rubicondi	...	Duke's Older Son

Storyline

Adam Verver, a US billionaire in London, dotes on daughter Maggie, an innocent abroad. An impecunious Italian, Prince Amerigo, marries her even though her best friend, Charlotte Stant, an alabaster beauty with brains, no money, and a practical and romantic nature, is his lover. She and Amerigo keep it secret from Maggie that they know each other, so Maggie interests her widowed father in Charlotte, who is happy with the match because she wants to be close to Amerigo. Charlotte desires him, the lovers risk discovery, Amerigo longs for Italy, Maggie wants to spare her father pain, and Adam wants to return to America to build a museum. Amidst lies and artifice, what fate awaits adulterers?

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Plot Keywords:

museum | italy | billionaire | italian | american | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for a sex scene

Details

Official Sites:

Merchant Ivory Productions

Country:

USA France UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 September 2000 (France)

Also Known As:

La coupe d'or

Filming Locations:

Belvoir Castle, Belvoir, Leicestershire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$90,170 (USA) (27 April 2001)

Gross:

$3,037,579 (USA) (3 August 2001)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Merchant Ivory Productions, TF1 International

Technical Specs

Runtime:

130 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to costume designer John Bright, Cosprop provided lace and sequined dresses for the principal actresses: 28 outfits for Uma Thurman, 15 for Anjelica Huston and 20 for Kate Beckinsale.

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Goofs

When the merchant delivers the golden bowl to Charlotte, he examines two pictures on the table behind the sofa. As he sets them down, the one on the right (seen from behind it) is placed so that it scrunches up the cloth runner. After Charlotte arrives, and he is explaining the coincidence of the subject couple asking about the bowl, the picture is seen again (from the front) and the cloth runner is smooth, as if recently ironed.

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Quotes

Adam Verver: Of course. No-one would dream of burying a queen while she was still alive.

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Crazy Credits

grateful thanks to Lord Tollemache and family; Frances, Duchess of Rutland; The Duke of Northumberland

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Connections

Version of The Golden Bowl (1972)

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Soundtracks

"Wall Street Rag"
Written by Scott Joplin

User Reviews

My brief review of the film

A luscious Merchant-Ivory film, though far from being a satisfying one, the times and the setting are both depicted well, but the story is very dry. The characters are never really well introduced, and to begin with it is hard follow. Once one had figured out just what has happened though, the story has nothing left in its power to grip. Uma Thurman also feels a tad out of place, like she does not belong in the context of the film. However, there is not really much overall that one can definitely fault the film on. It is mostly just a very dry story, one which is lacking in depth and excitement, which is the downfall of the film.