R E V I E W S

Golden Bowl, The (2001)

Starring: Uma Thurman, Kate Beckinsale, Jeremy Northam, Nick Nolte
Director: James Ivory
Rating: R

Studio: Lions Gate Films

Review Posted: 6.4.01

Rating: 4/4

By Michael Brendan McLarney.

"Aristocratic Circumvention"

Details form the molecular makeup of any filmmaking endeavor, yet few artists elevate an attention to detail to such potency where it invites the audience to see themselves in people and places that are otherwise worlds
away. A level of artistic brilliance difficult to match, the Merchant/Ivory team maintains that degree of integrity with each effort.

With "A Room With a View", "Maurice", "Howards End", and "The Remains of the Day", the collaboration of producer Ismail Merchant, director James Ivory, and screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala have churned out captivating stories
set in extravagant locales I could never imagine inhabiting, yet I never feel like an outsider while watching their stories unfold.

The team has also had success with adaptation from the works of Henry James, including films based on his novels "The Bostonians" and "The Europeans"; and now comes "The Golden Bowl" which James himself holds as "the most
composed and constructed and completed" of his works.

The story is set in England and Italy between the years 1903 and 1909. Poor but well-connected American Charlotte Stant (Uma Thurman) finds herself deeply in love with an impoverished Italian prince named Amerigo (Jeremy
Northam). He holds a strong attraction toward her but is encumbered with an ancestral castle in dire need of monetary assistance, and thus realizes he must marry for money.

His charming demeanor catches the attention of robust socialite Fanny Assingham (Anjelica Huston) who subsequently plays matchmaker, pairing him with the sweet-natured Maggie Verver (Kate Beckinsale), the daughter of widowed American business tycoon Adam Verver (Nick Nolte) who has since dove vigorously into the world of art collection. Maggie and Charlotte have been
best friends for years - the first of many soon-to-be consequential twists of fate.

Charlotte soon marries Adam in another unexpected turn and the die is ultimately cast. The hidden passions of Charlotte and the handsome prince Amerigo threaten their respective marriages, their reputations, and their own souls.

My incorporation of "their own souls" may seem a little out of place, considering these four individuals occupy an aristocratic society marred by a cloak of self-absorption. However, the genius of Ivory and Jhabvala is their willingness to stretch beyond commentary and actually give the thoughts and feelings of the key players ample consideration despite their privileged status.

As intricately lavish as the setting is, the film wisely never has the production design upstage the basic needs, views, hopes, or fears of those whom the story is about. Believe me, I am the least cultured individual whose words you will ever read, but even my crude mentality was engaged with
ease as I sympathized with some characters and abhorred others. The underhanded tactics of Charlotte were in many ways detestable, but were also the product of an incontrollable reckless passion. She's not so much manipulative or calculating as merely blind to the notion that Amerigo might love his wife more than her. My perception of not only Charlotte, but all the characters shifted at various times throughout the story - a tribute to the movie's effortless ease at igniting my interest. My appreciation of the film didn't require a particular mindset, just a simple granting of my attention.

Uma Thurman expands her acting prowess here, as her elegant beauty is offset by challenging scenes where her despair is conveyed through bouts of emotional hysteria. Kate Beckinsale ("Pearl Harbor", "Brokedown Palace") is
equally eye-catching as a deceptively docile creature who subtly takes matters into her own hands upon realization of Charlotte and Amerigo's secret. Jeremy Northam ("An Ideal Husband", "Happy, Texas") skillfully plays Amerigo as a man with the best intentions in perpetual danger of falling
victim to the passions his inherent charm arouses in women. Nick Nolte is perfectly cast as a Rockefeller-ish tycoon who's made the smooth transition from an industrial captain to a man with unmitigated artistic pretensions. The puissance he brings to the role of Adam Verver not only commands the scenes he occupies, but hovers over the scenes he doesn't.

The combination of Andrew Sanders' production design, Tony Pierce-Roberts' cinematography, and John Bright's costume design result in the film's magnificently lavish look, typical of a Merchant/Ivory production. The grand setting and the impeccable performances are brought together by a filmmaking team that magnetically draws the viewer closer to the intoxicating world it creates. It is, quite simply, a cinematic triumph.

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