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The Wings of the Dove

Name: The Wings of the Dove
Genre: Drama, Romance
Released: November 7, 1997
Duration: 102 min
Rating: 73
Cast: Helena Bonham Carter, Linus Roache

1997

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 18 Critics

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USER SCORE

Universal acclaim based on 21 Ratings

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8.6

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8.6	Your Score
8.6	User Score Universal acclaim based on 21 Ratings

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Movie Details & Credits

Miramax Films | Release Date: November 7, 1997 | R

Starring: Helena Bonham Carter, Linus Roache

Summary: Based on the Henry James novel, this is a provocative tale of passion, temptation, and greed. (Buena Vista Entertainment)

Director: Iain Softley

Genre(s): Drama, Romance

Rating: R

Runtime: 102 min

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Awards & Rankings

27	#27 Best Movie of 1997
96	#96 Most Discussed Movie of 1997
94	#94 Most Shared Movie of 1997

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

San Francisco Chronicle Edward Guthmann

The difference is that Iain Softley, who directed Wings of the Dove, and his screenwriter Hossein Amini, who wrote the overlooked "Jude," are keen observers who bring a wealth of ambiguity and mystery to the surface -- and release their characters from the cliches that easily could have swallowed them. Read full review

Stephen Holden

Few films have explored the human face this searchingly and found such complex psychological topography. That's why The Wings of the Dove succeeds where virtually every other film translation of a James novel has stumbled. Read full review

Roger Ebert

In The Wings of the Dove, there is a fascination in the way smart people try to figure one another out. The film is acted with great tenderness. Read full review

San Francisco Examiner Barbara Shulgasser

Softley and Amini say they consciously viewed Kate as a film noir kind of heroine, a beauty leading a good man astray. And that, added to the setting of the second half of the movie in canal-riven Venice, gives the story the kind of moral haziness that verges on Thomas Mann territory. Read full review

The New Republic Stanley Kauffmann

Softley worries a bit, quite unnecessarily, about keeping our interest; so he lays in a number of overhead shots and considerable zooming at the start of sequences. But his work with his cast is sure, except for the miscast Elliott, and he generates the right internal heat between the lovers. Read full review

Variety David Stratton

Visually the film impresses, with Eduardo Serra's widescreen camerawork evocatively capturing the streets and interiors of London and a rain-swept Venice. Pacing is crisp, with little time wasted on inessentials. Dialogue is often caustically witty, and the relations clearly delineated. Read full review

Slate Alex Ross

The movie is a modern facsimile of the potboilers James transfigured. A great movie may yet be made of James, but it will have to be done by someone who has read him. Read full review

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User Reviews

lasttimeisaw

Mar 25, 2012

A British period drama cannot be a bad alternative for a flushing upsurge of my Febiofest movie-goers' schedule. Nominated for 4 Oscars (Leading Actress, Cinematography, Costume and Adapted Screenplay), TWOTD represents a paradigmatic melodrama study of love, conspiracy, betrayal andA British period drama cannot be a bad alternative for a flushing upsurge of my Febiofest movie-goers' schedule. Nominated for 4 Oscars (Leading Actress, Cinematography, Costume and Adapted Screenplay), TWOTD represents a paradigmatic melodrama study of love, conspiracy, betrayal and passion, meanwhile mildly bashes the mercenary vanity then, all converges to a superior satisfactory coda. Venice part is memorably shot as an enchanting last journey to enjoy the fullest of one's life, an engaging score from Edward Shearmur firstly accompanies the film with a soothing pace, then adheres to the dramatic rotation aptly all the way along. The most striking caliber of the film is undisputedly the acting stretch, Helena Bonham Carter is magnetically absorbing in her puberty of mixing brisk gal, smart aleck manipulator and sophisticated lovelorn victim, her career-best so far. A terrifically undervalued Alison Elliott radiates an unassumingly captivating rendition with both vulnerability and playfulness (she and Helena currently end up No. 2 and No. 1 in my Oscar chart for supporting and leading actress respectively). To juggle with these two vehement lovebirds, Linus Roache (the alien form THE FORGOTTEN 2005) may be tread the water a little bit frivolously, with a moral criterion swinging back and forth ambiguously, he tackles the most tricky part heedfully. The nudity scene near its finale is theatrically robust in delivering a love-lost denouement and generates poignant pathos. The minor satellites revolving around are all British old hands, Rampling. Gambon are too skimpy on screen, while McGovernâ… Expand

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