Washington Square (film)

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Movie
German title Washington Square
Original title Washington Square
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1997
length 116 minutes
Age rating FSK 6
Rod
Director Agnieszka Holland
script Carol Doyle
production Julie Bergman Sender ,
Roger Birnbaum
music Jan AP Kaczmarek
camera Jerzy Zieliński
cut David Siegel
occupation

Washington Square (alternatively: The Washington Square ) is an American film drama from the year 1997 . Directed by Agnieszka Holland , the screenplay was written by Carol Doyle based on a novel by Henry James .

action

The action takes place in New York in the period before the Civil War . It shows the development of a young upper-class woman. Catherine Sloper lives alone with her father, a successful doctor, and his widowed sister, Lavinia Penniman, in the eponymous house on Washington Square . Her mother died in childbed shortly after she was born, and her brother was only three years old. Both deaths touched Catherine's father very much. Catherine, in her emotional and social naivety and her intellectual modesty, is in his eyes an insufficient part of his now reduced family and he meets her with restraint, coldness and cynicism.

Catherine meets young, charming, intelligent, but financially unsound Morris Townsend and falls in love with him when he woos her. Your father sees this with disapproval. He suspects Townsend is after his daughter's fortune and is confirmed by his inquiries. Morris and Catherine decide to marry, but the father refuses to consent - marrying against his will would mean that she cannot inherit her father's considerable fortune and would have to live on her mother's bequest.

In order to remove Catherine from the influence of Morris, Mr. Sloper embarks on an educational trip to Europe with his daughter, which he initially plans for six months, but then, when Catherine sticks to her marriage plans, extended by six months. During this time his sister Lavinia tries to persuade Morris to persevere.

For Catherine, marriage becomes a question of loyalty - to the man she loves and whom she believes to be loved again, or to her father, to whom she is also very emotionally attached. The conflict drags on because Catherine's father remains tough and relentless. By dealing with the reactions of the two men she loved, Catherine developed from a shy, introverted personality to a more cosmopolitan, independent, mature personality. The question is asked several times, whom the father actually intends to protect - the happiness and reputation of his daughter or his own? Catherine is very impressed by her father's steadfast demeanor, especially since it is brought forward with coldness and insensitivity. However, she is just as disappointed by Morris, who turns away from her when it becomes clear that Mr. Sloper's stance on the marriage of the two will not change.

In the following years, Catherine remained unmarried despite several offers. Her father falls ill and dies. However, since she refuses to let him dictate her further behavior after his death, she is actually only given the house in Washington Square in his will. But Catherine has spent little of the annual amount of her mother's inheritance available to her. So she can spend the rest of her life in manageable prosperity.

Catherine meets Morris Townsend again, but she confidently rejects his new advertisement.

Reviews

Roger Ebert wrote in the Chicago Sun-Times of October 10, 1997 that the director was interested in the portrayal of otherwise hidden family life - as in the film The Secret Garden . You tell the story in a modern way, although not as humorous as in the novel ("Henry James saw more humor in the story than Holland does"). Jennifer Jason Leigh often plays bold characters; It is remarkable that she can play a reserved character in such a way that every statement appears bold.

Kenneth Turan wrote in the Los Angeles Times on October 10, 1997 that the film was not a success. The level of the presentations is very different and there is a lack of sophistication.

Awards

Maggie Smith was nominated for the Chlotrudis Award in 1998 .

backgrounds

The film was shot in Baltimore and in the California mountains - representing the Alps . It had its world premiere on September 12, 1997 at the Toronto International Film Festival . The film grossed approximately $ 1.7 million in US cinemas .

The novel by Henry James was filmed in 1949 under the title The Heiress with Olivia de Havilland and Montgomery Clift in the leading roles and was awarded four Oscars .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Film review by Roger Ebert, accessed September 20, 2007
  2. ↑ Kenneth Turan's film review, accessed September 20, 2007
  3. ^ Filming locations for Washington Square, accessed September 20, 2007
  4. ↑ Washington Square premiere dates, accessed September 20, 2007
  5. ^ Box office / business for Washington Square, accessed September 20, 2007