Basil

Basil hooks up with the grungy Christian Slater, who helps hook him up with the object of his lust, played by Claire Forlani.

And it all goes downhill from there. Seems like it might've been an ok Victoria melodrama to read, but on film, it's just boring.

It's a tempting story about lust, deception, revenge and obsession. Nothing's wrong with this movie, the three eye catching main cast were doing fine for the film, but the story itself just lack the passion of becoming a powerful drama.

After the fast and intriguing pace from the midway of the movie until the edge, the movie was washed off by a poorly executed climax which made it ended up so cliché. It's not a mainstream ending but at the same time looks so lame and motiveless. Too bad.

But again I think this is still a better romantic thriller film than most teenage romantic movie you'll find everywhere this day. But it was surely a movie only to watch when you're in the mood.

In Basil's secret and unconsummated marriage to the linen-draper's sexually precocious daughter, and the shocking betrayal, insanity, and death that follow, novelist Wilkie Collins reveals the bustling, commercial London of the nineteenth century wreaking its vengeance on a still powerful aristocratic world. Contemporary reviewers of the novel vehemently disapproved of that explicit treatment of adultery; and even today the passionate and lurid atmosphere Collins creates still has the power to disturb. 'Basil' has a good basic plot, but the protagonist is difficult to like. His reasoning is unconvincing, and his actions verge on stupidity. There are also plot holes, things that just don't make logical sense. Basil has flaws, but it began the mystery thriller that Collins would adopt later on in The Moonstone and The woman in white. Whereas in 'The Moonstone' things are difficult to predict, and unable to see where things are going, 'Basil' isn't discreet enough, there are no red herrings, what you read are the glaringly obvious hints that lead the story on and lead you to guess the subsequent events. This makes watching 'Basil' a lot less thrilling. There is too much foreshadowing, and too much of it is made very clear. Oddly enough, Basil is more popular among all the movie versions of Collins' works. It is far from being the best of them, though.

A brit production, where the two leads are american. Basil's older brother had shamed the family, so he was sent away. Basil has always been careful around his dad, but there may be a showdown coming! Father doesn't approve of the young lady for whom basil has fallen. Mannion has become basil's friend, and will try to help. Julia's father agrees to the wedding, but they may not consummate the marriage until it is too late for basil to be dis-inherited. It's okay. The first half is pretty slow. The script is rather sparse, and we feel the desolation that basil feels. Twists, turns, intrigue. In the close-ups, faces, eyes, wallpaper, paintings are quite vivid. In the wide shots, everything and everyone is a bit faded, or foggy. It's possible they did something to the film to give it an aged look, like sepia. Directed by radha bharadwaj. Story by wilkie collins.

"Basil" is a curiously compelling film. I rented it purely because it "looked Victorian" and I was in the mood for something different. It turned out to be very Victorian, a family saga set somewhere in the 19th Century. Wealthy, but not titled, father has two sons. His pompous and hypocritical Victorian "family values" provide the dramatic force for the story -- otherwise, it's just a bland Harlequin-type romance. The father's confrontations with sons over women end each time with decisions totally alien to our modern sensibilities. Very jarring. Jared Leto as Basil is a little strained in his acting, but always nice to look at. C. Slater is surprisingly (and obviously) good in this "historical" role, and he has a secret which provides a twist near the end. The end itself provides a strange turn that may make you wonder if Basil wouldn't have been happier in a new-age commune in modern New Mexico. Of course, it is basically a chick-flick....