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

Amerigo: What is it you want from me?
Maggie: I want a happiness without a hole in it! I want the bowl without the crack!

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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

Referenced in Reflections of Evil (2002)

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Soundtracks

"Wall Street Rag"
Written by Scott Joplin

User Reviews

Better than the book, unless you enjoy convoluted phrases that would be incomprehendable were it not for semicolons!!!

OK, so we need Henry James for character exposition. That complements beautifully the wonderful cinematography of all these great castles in England and Italy. Of course, the source of all these riches is alluded to with the real grainy film of the coal miners in AmericanCity. I haven't found yet the line in the novel by Thurman: "But the miners would prefer the train to a museum" when Nolte describes to her how he will buy both sides of the street and the train tracks between in order to build his museum. The reason the language sounds stilted is that much of the dialogue was lifted verbatim from the novel.....what little dialogue there is. And of course, the fascinating 'beasts unleashed' flavor of the sexual intercourse scene is NEVER to be found even alluded to in the novel.

By the way, Edward II is buried in Gloucester Cathedral. That question comes up, but is NEVER answered in the movie, and you THINK it is going to be the little point that breaks up their alibi: "We went to Gloucester Abbey, where there is some king buried, Edward II or Richard II." The acting is superb, the scenery gorgeous and the psychological incest between Nolte and his daughter is discreetly and appropriately exemplified. As HJ says, talking together in the castle gardens, they did indeed resemble husband and wife. The adultery of the other two was almost foreordained.

The social habits of this age when women had no independent means of making a living is underlined. See this in conjunction with "House of Mirth" and you'll thank your lucky stars you live in 2001. As much sexism as still exists in the workplace, we have indeed come a LONG way, Baby!!!! Thurman's sense of imprisonment is palpable, and I wonder how many women went stark raving mad over their dependency, a form of slavery all the more odious for it not being recognized.

I wonder if ALice James had any part in the writing of this novel. After reading this, she must have felt much better about her 'plight'. Although I wish for the maiden ladies of that day, that they might have been able to adopt or have babies without the social stigmas of the time......a great joy in life that shouldn't be linked with the social tyranny of 'catching a man'.

Return to a time when people used their minds for things other than writing better software, as their country and Constitution are taken over by greedy ignorant barbarians intent on destroying the planet. It's a great movie.!!!