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Rating:  - Out of all of the "Bonham Carter" Period films,THIS IS THE ONE WHERE SHE REALLY GLOWS!This is HER movie that defines her career
There really is not much that I can add plotwise to the other excellent reviews here at Amazon.What I can say though is that Helena Bonham Carter has often been referred to as "the Queen of costume dramas" which has unfortunately pigeonholed her into being some kind of one dimensional charicature of herself in some eyes.Well....it is in Henry James' WINGS OF THE DOVE (one of the better James" novel adaptations to screen) under the very able direction of Iain Softley where "Mrs.Tim Burton" blossoms and shows that she has a pair of eyes that can express the complete range of emotions without saying a word.(Didn't Norma Desmond,the great silent screen star of SUNSET BOULEVARD say,"We didn't have words...we said it with our eyes!"?).Though WINGS OF THE DOVE is certainly a fairly engaging story in it's own right (it is a melodrama that certainly follows some formulas),it is Miss Bonham Carter's beyond-admirable performance that makes this beautifully filmed in the streets and canals of Venice tragic love triangle really worth the watching alone.Some actresses SO fit the bill as their characters (I am reminded of Meryl Streep in SOPHIE'S CHOICE and Fernanda Montenegro in CENTRAL STATION,and currently Helen Mirren in THE QUEEN)that to ever to consider a remake down the line by some director would mean having to outdo what is already perfection.Bonham Carter hit an absolute career defining moment in this film.Here she is not the ingenue of the 1983 ROOM WITH A VIEW,but a full come-of-age bonifide star who received both nominations from the Hollywood Foreign Press and The Academy.She deserved every bit of those accolades in the role of Kate,for WINGS OF THE DOVE really is Kate's story anyway.
As for the supporting cast,Linus Roach is more than suitable as Merton and plays well opposite Miss Carter.I,personally,have never found the parts of the Americans played by Alison Elliot and Elizabeth McGovern to be anything at all.I truly feel that Miss Elliot fails to capture the necessary fragility/emerging sexual woman role with any kind of true conviction as Millie Theale.As for Miss McGovern,the part is limited at best,but there is not much there in the delivery nor in the look.
Rating:  - Dark elegance!
Iain Softley directed this elegant film yet it reminds me of a Merchant/Ivory production, not just for the Helena Bonham Carter connection, but because of the incredible production values (costumes, art direction, and cinematography) that make the film look more costly than the actual numbers. The acting is good from most if not all the cast. And the screenplay deals well with the triangle that Kate (Carter) allows herself to fall into despite the emotional danger to herself. Despite a dark premise the character Millie adds a bit of brightness to the story. And the views of Venice really capture the exotic nature of the place with comparison to 1910 London. This film earned its R-rating with the ending. But it did show how much the two main characters have changed by what previously occurred. It's a well done costume-drama.
Rating: - The Wings of the Dove
Good subject, the workings of a devious female mind. A complicated love triangle. Superb acting.
Rating: - Watch - don't listen
This movie is a tasty eye candy. The plot is awkward at best. The original novel is not much better, by the way. I am surprised that a sophisticated author like Henry James wrote this novel. I have always considered him a great psychologist, who posessed great insight into human motives, but in this particular novel his usually precise psychoanalysis goes in every direction uncontrollably. The plot reminds me of a high-school revenge thriller. I wonder if he was influenced by Chorderlo Laclos' "Dangerous Liaisons". Turn down the sound, so you don't have to bore yourself with the tedious dialogue, and enjoy the splendid costumes and the steamy sex scenes.
Rating: - Love cannot be calculated
Three reasons that this film shines:
1. An excellent screenplay that captures the gist of the novel and without getting bogged down.
2. Alison Elliot and Linus Roache outperform Helena Bonham Carter, no small feat, to create a special love.
3. Venice, shot so as to seem completely in the period of the story, makes it clear why this city was (and is) special.
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