At the invitation of his pupil, a rational cleric disabuses the pupil's mother of her belief in a pair of spiritualists, but then finds his own beliefs challenged in the hunt for an alchemist's buried treasure.
This is my favourite James adaptation. The storytelling is brisk, and the actors are excellent, especially in the close ups on so many interesting faces.
Some reviewers question the opening act, but seems to me it sets up the protagonist's intellectual pride, which is about to come crashing down. Couple of flaws in the story: no clear motivation for the cleric to uncover the treasure on his own, and the triumph of the mother's belief isn't brought full circle at the end. But it does convey the uncanny nature of James' horror, and in the final scene the usual menace of a figure approaching from afar.
This is my favourite James adaptation. The storytelling is brisk, and the actors are excellent, especially in the close ups on so many interesting faces.
Some reviewers question the opening act, but seems to me it sets up the protagonist's intellectual pride, which is about to come crashing down. Couple of flaws in the story: no clear motivation for the cleric to uncover the treasure on his own, and the triumph of the mother's belief isn't brought full circle at the end. But it does convey the uncanny nature of James' horror, and in the final scene the usual menace of a figure approaching from afar.