The Golden Bowl **** (2000, Nick Nolte, Uma Thurman, Jeremy Northam, Kate Beckinsale, Anjelica Huston, James Fox, Madeleine Potter, Nicholas Day, Peter Eyre, Nickolas Grace) – Classic Movie Review 1,217

Nick Nolte is brilliant in producer Ismail Merchant and director James Ivory’s splendid, intense, beautifully realised 2000 film version of the classic novel by Henry James, The Golden Bowl.

Nick Nolte is brilliant in producer Ismail Merchant and director James Ivory’s splendid, intense, beautifully realised 2000 film version of the classic novel by Henry James, The Golden Bowl.

What tangled webs we weave! A poverty-stricken Italian, Prince Amerigo (Jeremy Northam) marries London-based widowed US billionaire Adam Verver (Nolte)’s daughter Maggie (Kate Beckinsale), even though Amerigo’s in love with her best friend, Charlotte (Uma Thurman). Then Maggie gets her father interested in Charlotte, who is pleased because this keeps her near Amerigo.

And, boy, do Henry James and Merchant-Ivory weave one heck of a marvellous spell out of this little web! Their usual collaborator Ruth Prawer Jhabvala makes a lovely job of the screenplay, cinematographer Tony Pierce-Roberts and production designer Andrew Sanders make it look gorgeous, and composer Richard Robbins makes it sound glorious.

It is a pity that the normally excellent Northam is miscast and struggling so badly with his Italian character and accent. Apart from Northam, the movie is virtually perfect. Anjelica Huston is also outstanding as Mrs Assingham, a matchmaking American socialite, whose meddling brings down the whole deck of cards. James Fox, Madeleine Potter, Nicholas Day, Peter Eyre and Nickolas Grace are also in the cast.

Merchant and Ivory refused to make cuts to shorten its 130 minutes running time and distributor Miramax Films sold the film to Lions Gate for US release.

It was released in France on 13 September 2000 by TF1 International, in the UK by Miramax on 3 November 2000, and the US on 27 April 2001.

Sad to say, this superb film had a chilly reception when it premiered at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival, though later reviews were generally kind and respectful. It went unrewarded at awards time, with only production designer Andrew Sanders winning the Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Technical/ Artistic Achievement. Sadder to say, the total worldwide box office was only $5,753,678 against a budget of $15 million.

Shooting took place in England and Italy: at Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire, Burghley House in Lincolnshire, Helmingham Hall in Suffolk, the Kew Bridge Steam Museum and Syon House in Middlesex, Lancaster House and Mansion House in London, and Palazzo Borghese in Artena and Prince Massimo’s Castle in Arsoli, both near Rome.

‘Moonstruck’ by Lionel Monckton and Ivan Caryll, ‘Sarabande’ by Claude Debussy and ‘Wall Street Rag’ by Scott Joplin are on the soundtrack.

Ivory, Merchant and Jhabvala previously worked on films of the Henry James novels The Europeans and The Bostonians.

The cast

The cast are Uma Thurman as Charlotte Stant, Jeremy Northam as Prince Amerigo, Kate Beckinsale as Maggie Verver, James Fox as Colonel Bob Assingham, Nick Nolte as Adam Verver, Anjelica Huston as Fanny Assingham, Madeleine Potter as Lady Gladys Castledean, Nicholas Day as Lord Castledean, Peter Eyre as A R Jarvis, Nickolas Grace as Lecturer, Robin Hart, Daniel Byam Shaw, and Francesco Giufridda.

© Derek Winnert 2014 Classic Movie Review 1,217

Link to Derek Winnert’s home page for more film reviews: http://derekwinnert.com/