THE WINGS OF THE DOVE

After the success of last years THE ENGLISH PATIENT, Miramax introduces its 1997 entry for Oscar contention with THE WINGS OF THE DOVE. Replacing Jane Austen as the costume drama author of choice for screen adaptation, American novelist Henry James makes his third outing in less than a year with THE WINGS OF A DOVE. Recent adaptations by the author were the esoteric PORTRAIT OF A LADY and WASHINGTON SQUARE (which is reviewed in this issue). THE WINGS OF A DOVE is a beautiful and precise story about how one woman connives to win a man she loves and ends up empty-handed.

No stranger to corsets and lavish costumes, Helena Bonham Carter puts in a mature and competent work as English woman Kate, living in London in 1910. Kate is born into nobility, but is not accustomed to moving in its circles. Her father is a poor opium addict, and she is not attracted to a certain worthy suitor, the arrogant Lord Mark (Alex Jennings), but rather to a modest wage earner, journalist Merton Densher (Linus Roache). Kate must meet Merton in secret because her aunt and benefactor, Maud (Charlotte Rampling), will not stand for her fraternizing, much less marrying outside of her class. If Kate were ever to make her love for Merton public, she would lose all her inheritance. Hence, Kate is torn between falling into Merton’s arms and holding him at arm’s length.

The arrival of the American heiress, Millie (Alison Elliott from THE SPITFIRE GRILL), churns Kate’s mind into plotting an idea to win Merton. The conniving Kate discovers that Millie is in fact dying, so Kate plans to introduce Merton to Millie, set them up with the hopes that they will marry and then wait until Millie dies. Then, Merton would inherit Millie’s fortune, and Kate could marry Merton. Though Millie meets Merton and thinks he is attractive, this devious plan is not detected by the two innocent parties. To expedite the matter, Kate invites Merton to join Millie and her on a vacation in Venice. Unexpectedly, Merton becomes attached to Millie, infuriating Kate and causing the two to face insurmountable obstacles upon Millie’s death.

The audience’s sympathies are divided between despising Kate’s perverted plans and having compassion for her because of the cruel, intractable and inescapable social order in which she is trapped. She defies that social order by loving Merton and breaks the moral order by hoping to benefit from the death of another person. She commits no legal crime, but only crimes of the heart and conscience. She insists that Merton take Millie’s money, and Merton insists that she allow him to love the memory of Millie. Merton and Kate are trapped in a bizarre love triangle which ends in ruin. Hence, this movie is a tragedy, not a romance. Near the end, the mostly moral and conservatively directed movie has a brief but graphic sex scene, where Merton and Kate try to make love, but end up making resolutions which will seal their alienation forever.

After taking a back seat to the Oscar-worthy work of Emma Thompson, Bonham Carter positions herself in the front seat for Oscar contention this year. Her performance in THE WINGS OF THE DOVE is flawless. Elliott likewise gives a strong performance, but Roache and McGovern seem lifeless and blank. Charlotte Rampling puts in a brief, but wicked turn, as the bull-headed aunt. Photography and art direction are top notch. Director Iain Softly directs the story with confidence and some stunning composition tricks. No doubt his work on the Generation-X pictures BACKBEAT and HACKERS helped give WINGS a contemporary appeal, with a pace slow enough to respect the time period, but quick enough to hold modern audiences.

There has already been talk by many other critics that THE WINGS OF A DOVE will land on their top ten lists. Indeed, it is a very strong movie which tells a compelling story that demonstrates that there is no advantage in involving a romantic competitor if the goal is to win the man. Indeed, unless the Lord builds a house, or in this case, a romantic relationship, the laborers work in vain.