Wings of the Dove - The wings of the dove

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Movie
German title Wings of the Dove - The wings of the dove
Original title The Wings of the Dove
Country of production USA , UK
original language English
Publishing year 1997
length 102 minutes
Age rating FSK 6
Rod
Director Iain Softley
script Hossein Amini
production Stephen Evans ,
Paul Feldsher ,
David Parfitt ,
Bob Weinstein ,
Harvey Weinstein
music Ed Shearmur
camera Eduardo Serra
cut Tariq Anwar
occupation

Wings of the Dove - The Wings of the Dove (The Wings of the Dove) is an American - British film drama by Iain Softley from the year 1997 . The screenplay by Hossein Amini is based on the novel of the same name by Henry James .

action

London , at the beginning of the 20th century: after the death of her mother, the young and attractive Kate Croy lives with her aunt Maude in an elegant property on Hyde Park . While Kate's father is impoverished and addicted to opium , her embittered but wealthy relatives tolerate her only until she has married a coveted bachelor in London society who can assure her of a decent lifestyle. The headstrong Kate, however, made the acquaintance of the penniless and unclassified journalist Merton Densher, whom she loves and secretly meets against her aunt's will.

In London society, Kate is introduced to the wealthy American Millie Theale. The two women soon became close friends. Kate and Millie look at pornographic images in a bookstore, visit exhibitions of modern art and have fun with Lord Mark, who is chosen for Kate's marriage candidate, but who is impoverished. The cynic makes Kate aware of his plan to win over wealthy Millie and soon inherit her because she suffers from a deadly disease.

Kate then begins to make the Lord's plan her own. At a party, Millie falls in love with the quiet Merton. Kate urges her lover to give her good-natured friend hope and marry her. In this way Merton could come into possession of the wealth of the "rich orphans" and marry Millies Kate after her death. Both Kate and Merton are invited to Venice for a stay. There Kate intensifies her efforts and leaves Millie and Merton alone after a masquerade ball. Having traveled back to London, however, she soon becomes plagued by jealousy. Kate then gives Lord Mark a hint about the impending fraud. He immediately travels to Venice. The meanwhile seriously ill Millie forgives Merton, however, and both spend time together until her death.

After Millie's death, Merton returns to London. Kate goes to his apartment, where he hands her a letter from Millie's lawyers. Kate burns the letter and they sleep together. Kate finds out that Merton has fallen in love with the late Millie. Kate's lover then returns to Venice, where he can mourn Millie.

Reviews

James Berardinelli wrote on ReelViews that it was Henry James' intention - when he wrote the novel between 1894 and 1902 - to address the conflict between morality and traditions of the 19th century and modern liberality of the 20th century. The result is one of the most fascinating works by James and 100 years later it remains just as fascinating as it is current. The film writers would have chosen a less literal type of film adaptation. The film lives from the representations of the actors, who are effective in the cases of the main actors Helena Bonham Carter, Linus Roache and Alison Elliott. Their facial expressions and body language would underline the "ethical ambiguities" with which the characters depicted would be confronted.

Roger Ebert wrote in the Chicago Sun-Times on November 14, 1997, the play of the main characters had "great tenderness", which won the audience's sympathy for the characters embodied. Stephen Holden ( The New York Times ) praised the "painfully sad pas de trois" as the "soul of the film", which director Iain Softley gave a " film noir tinge" without making the story cheaper. The character of Kate is less villainous compared to the novel. For Helena Bonham Carter it was the role of her life in which she was reminiscent of a witch-like English Scarlett O'Hara .

Ursula Vossen ( film-dienst ) criticized the beginning of Softley's film and the “sexualization” of the characters. With the “conscious de-psychologization of the characters”, Wings of the Dove got into a tilt from which the film could not recover. The viewer will witness “an exquisite orgy of furnishings in selected locations, but also a cinematic stillbirth”. Patrick Bahners ( Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung ) remarked that Softley was looking for a formal language of its own for the film adaptation, which lies in the music of Ed Shearmur . Helena Bonham-Carter and Linus Roache are brilliant in their roles, but changes in content have made the character of Kate more sympathetic, which leads to a "trivialization of the moral problem".

The Neue Zürcher Zeitung also had praise for the leading actors , but screenwriter Hossein Amini would draw “far too precise lines of psychological motivation” in his script, which he would have based on the film noir . Only the camera Eduardo Serras would " conjure up the existentialist darkness of a Hammett world in London (and Venice) of the upper classes at the beginning of the century". Only a “touch of Henry James” touches the best moments, “but the chaos that the pigeon's wingbeat should wreak in our minds” remains absent. While Daniela Sannwald ( Frankfurter Rundschau ) spoke of an almost complete liberation from the literary model and praised the film as a successful " attempt at emancipation", the daily criticized Sofley's directorial work. The director tries to abstain from moral statements as much as possible. The problem with Kate's character lies "in the inextricable tension between her alleged great passion (and willingness to suffer) in relation to Merton on the one hand and her cold-bloodedness towards Milly on the other hand". The film also leaves the viewer in the dark as to whether the motive of the female main character for the desired connection is only in the pursuit of profit. The more turns Kate Croy make, the more she loses interest in the character. The fascination that Merton Densher exerts on Millie and Kate remains inexplicable. The love scenes, including the final bed scene, are "almost ridiculous in their mixture of pathetic dialogue and uptight actionism".

Awards

The film was nominated for an Oscar in 1998 in four categories : Best Actress (Helena Bonham Carter), Best Adapted Screenplay (Hossein Amini), Best Cinematography (Eduardo Serra) and Best Costume Design ( Sandy Powell ). Bonham Carter was also nominated for a Golden Globe in 1998 . Eduardo Serra and the makeup experts won the 1998 BAFTA Award , for which Helena Bonham Carter, Hossein Amini and Sandy Powell were also nominated.

The four nominations for the 1998 Golden Satellite Award included those for Bonham Carter, Amini, and Powell. Helena Bonham Carter and Alison Elliott were nominated for the 1998 Screen Actors Guild Award . Hossein Amini was nominated for the 1998 Writers Guild of America Award and the USC Scripter Award .

Helena Bonham Carter won the 1997 Boston Society of Film Critics Award, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award , the Society of Texas Film Critics Award, and the National Board of Review Award. It also won the 1998 Chlotrudis Award, the Southeastern Film Critics Association Award, the Toronto Film Critics Association Award, and the Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award; she was also nominated for the 1998 Online Film Critics Society Award. In 1999 she also won the London Critics Circle Film Award. She and Alison Elliott won the 1998 Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award.

background

The film was shot in England - including London - and in Venice . It had its world premiere on September 4, 1997 at the Venice International Film Festival ; on September 8, 1997 it was screened at the Toronto Film Festival . The film grossed approximately $ 13.7 million in US theaters and approximately £ 1.3 million in UK theaters .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Release certificate for Wings of the Dove - The wings of the dove . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , October 2012 (PDF; test number: 79 680 V).
  2. ^ Review by James Berardinelli
  3. ^ Review by Roger Ebert
  4. ↑ cf. Holden, Stephen: A Pas de Trois Across Moral Terrain . In: The New York Times, Nov. 7, 1997, p. 16
  5. ↑ cf. Review in film-dienst 02/1957 (accessed via Munzinger Online )
  6. ↑ cf. Bahners, Patrick: Life is a long, quiet channel . In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, July 29, 1998, No. 173, p. 30
  7. ↑ cf. The beat of the wings of chaos . In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung, July 24, 1998, p. 41
  8. ↑ cf. Sannwald, Daniela: Guilt in Venice . In: Frankfurter Rundschau, July 23, 1998, p. 8
  9. ↑ cf. Löhndorf, Marion: Pre-Raphaelite hair floods . In: the daily newspaper, July 23, 1998, p. 12
  10. ^ Filming locations for The Wings of the Dove
  11. ^ Opening dates for The Wings of the Dove
  12. ^ Box office / business for The Wings of the Dove