The Wings of the Dove (1997)

Director:

Iain Softley

Writers:

Henry James (novel)
Hossein Amini (screenplay)

Release Date:

7 November 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

A couple with everything but money. An heiress with everything but love. A temptation no one could resist.

Plot:

An impoverished woman who has been forced to choose between a privileged life with her wealthy aunt and her journalist lover, befriends an American heiress. When she discovers the heiress is attracted to her own lover and is dying, she sees a chance to have both the privileged life she cannot give up and the lover she cannot live without.

Plot Keywords:

Aunt | Journalist | Heiress | Marriage | Wealth

Awards:

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 16 wins & 17 nominations

Cast

Helena Bonham Carter	...	Kate Croy
Linus Roache	...	Merton Densher
Alison Elliott	...	Millie Theale
Charlotte Rampling	...	Aunt Maude
Elizabeth McGovern	...	Susan 'Susie' Stringham
Michael Gambon	...	Lionel Croy, Kate's Father
Alex Jennings	...	Lord Mark
Ben Miles	...	First Journalist
Philip Wright	...	Second Journalist
Alexander John	...	Butler
Shirley Chantrell	...	Opium Den Lady
Diana Kent	...	Merton's Party Companion
Georgio Serafini	...	Eugenio
Rachele Crisafulli	...	Concierge

MPAA:

Rated R for sexuality.

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Rankcolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Canada:14A (Ontario) | Iceland:L | Singapore:M18 (re-rating) | Singapore:R(A) | Belgium:KT | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Germany:6 | Japan:R | Mexico:B | Portugal:M/12 | South Korea:18 | Spain:13 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R (certificate #35341)

Filming Locations:

Brompton Cemetery, Fulham Road, West Brompton, London, England, UK

Company:

Miramax Films

Goofs:

Errors in geography: The tile pattern on the Underground stations the train passes through at the beginning of the film are identical in pattern and color for each station. Each station on the Piccadilly line had it's own tile pattern and color scheme so that the illiterate could still recognize their station without needing to read the station name.

Quotes:

Merton: You want me to seduce a dying girl? And what makes you think she'll just leave me all her money?
Kate: I know her. I know how she loves.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Passion and Romance: The Wings of the Dove (1999) (V)

Rent it

I can't believe there are only two comments for this film. It's a subtle film and a rare one in which your feelings for the characters change. I have read the book, and seen all the other films made of Henry James novels, and this one is by far the best at translating at least some of the moral ambiguity at the heart of most James novels.

Helena plays a woman forced to give up her boyfriend Merton because he has no money. She meets and befriends a wealthy, but terminally ill American, Milly. She decides that Merton will court Milly, inherit all of Milly's money when she dies, and have the funds to marry Helena. The film is about Merton's moral awakening as he realizes how horrible what he's doing is, and WHO Helena's character really is.

You would have to read the novel to understand how difficult it is to adapt this material, and what a great job they really have done. Bring your hankies for the scene near the end (not in the novel, actually) in which Merton apologizes to Milly. This invented scene crystallizes all of the emotion and makes the movie fulfilling in a way a straight working of the novel could not have been.

Helena is good, but her character is simplified somewhat from the book. I think this should have at least been up for Best Picture. See it.

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