The Serpent's Kiss (1997)

Young Dutch landscape architect Meneer Chrome comes to a remote English estate where Thomas Smithers lives with his wife, Juliana. Smithers is determined to leave as his legacy a fabulous ... See full summary »

Director:

Philippe Rousselot

Writer:

Tim Rose Price (original screenplay)

Stars:

Ewan McGregor, Greta Scacchi, Pete Postlethwaite

1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Ewan McGregor	...	Meneer Chrome
Greta Scacchi	...	Juliana
Pete Postlethwaite	...	Thomas Smithers
Richard E. Grant	...	James Fitzmaurice
Carmen Chaplin	...	Thea / Anna
Donal McCann	...	Physician
Charley Boorman	...	Secretary
Gerard McSorley	...	Mr. Galmoy
Britta Smith	...	Mrs. Galmoy
Susan Fitzgerald	...	Mistress Clevely
Pat Laffan	...	Pritchard
Rúaidhrí Conroy	...	Physician's Assistant
Henry King	...	Lead Reaper
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
David Byrne	...	Garden Boy
Caimin Danaher	...	Garden Boy

Storyline

Young Dutch landscape architect Meneer Chrome comes to a remote English estate where Thomas Smithers lives with his wife, Juliana. Smithers is determined to leave as his legacy a fabulous garden, to be carved from a wild patch of land beside his home. Chrome receives written instructions from his unseen master via a secretary, and the master is Juliana's cousin, Fitzmaurice, who had romance with Juliana when they were young and plans to make Thomas bankrupt via setting up extravagant garden and to make Juliana come back to him.

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Plot Keywords:

reference to andrew marvell | husband wife relationship | hampton court palace | nature | doctor | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for brief language

Did You Know?

Trivia

Never theatrically released in the UK, or Ireland, where it was filmed

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Quotes

Juliana: You can't swim. I suppose you could drown, though. Anybody can do that. Even on dry land.

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Connections

Featured in Long Way Round (2004)

User Reviews

Thoroughly Enjoyable

Well, to say the least I "thoroughly enjoyed" this movie. Having only watched it on TV I may not have seen it in it's entirety but what I did see I liked. Ewan McGregor just can't be bad in anything I suppose, or at least I haven't seen a movie yet where he didn't steal the show with his dazzling ability to become his character. The movie itself had quite a beautiful look to it and the odd loveliness of the daughter in the movie really gave you a funny sense all throughout it. It's not your ordinary tale, but the writing was wonderful and the acting superb. If you like odd love stories with a twist, this is the perfect example. And it doesn't hurt if you like Ewan McGregor, he absolutely shines.

Details

Official Sites:

MGM

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 May 1997 (France)

Also Known As:

The Serpent's Kiss

Box Office

Budget:

$13,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

J&M Entertainment, Jones-Brockman Productions, Rose Price Battsek Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1