Although she is not its title character,"The Painted Lady" (1997) is very much a Helen Mirren vehicle. In effect, she gets to play three characters in it: (1) a former (bluesy) rock star who has emerged from a drug haze and is living in the Irish countryside (the English countryside rather than the Irish countryside, like Marianne Faithfull of the late 1980s), (2) a detective (not a professional but like Chief Inspector Jane Tennison whom Mirren played in seven "Prime Suspect"s) pushing down her insecurities to appear intrepid, and (3) a Polish countess (a Meryl Streep-like turn) who turns up at art auctions to pique the interest of the mysterious Italian-born successful New York art dealer Roberto Tassi (Franco Nero).

The "painted lady" is Judith in the act of severing the head of the drunken, sleeping Holofernes by the baroque female painter Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1653). (The painting is in the Uffizi in Florence; a reproduction is online at http://www.artemisia-gentileschi.com/judith4.html. Gentileschi was the first female admitted to the Accademia di Arte del Disegno in Florence. Earlier, she had been raped by Agostino Tassi, a tutor arranged by her father and was tortured as part of the legal proceedings, as is discussed within the movie more than once.)

A few years before the start of the movie Maggie Sheridan was pulled back from the edge of the abyss by Sebastian Stafford (Iain Glen) and ensconced in a cottage on the estate of Sebastian's father Sir Charles Stafford (Iain Cuthbertson). While dallying with her squeeze of the moment in his bath with blaring music, a shot rings out. Maggie finds Sir Charles dying under the painting of his long-dead wife. She hides the pistol he was holding and undertakes her own investigation into the robbery. (Sir Charles died defending the one painting he cared about, one with no market value.)

It quickly becomes apparent that Sir Charles connived in the robbery to pay off his son's gambling debts to the vicious Michael Longley ..... (John Kavanagh), a gangster whom Dublin detective Fagan (Barry Barnes) has long been trying to take down.

With her art dealer half-sister and half-brother-in-law (Lesley Manville and Michael Maloney), Maggie concocts the charade of Maggie playing a Polish countess to regain the painting of Judith (to pay Sebastian's ransom). She captivates Tassi rather too easily

Plot spoiler alert

not least in that Tassi carried a torch for Sir Charles with whom he had an extended affair during the fall of fascist Italy and who aided him in the expropriation of an art collection that included the "painted lady." Tassi's sexual orientation seems to be to males, yet throws his usual caution to the wind to pursue Maggie (or to switch metaphors, becomes a moth hurling himself at the flame of her).

I also find it completely unbelievable that the character who for a time owned the Judith slaying Holofernes painting would take the name "Tassi" when moving to America and becoming an art dealer. In addition to rape, the historical Tassi was involved in fraud, not an association the contemporary character would want to stimulate.

Plot spoiler alert end

Since we are shown the robbery and shooting of Sir Charles, there is never any "Whodunit?" mystery. Even the "Why?" question for that is quickly evident (this seems very much in the "Prime Suspect" tradition to me). Trying to get the Judith painting back leads to three very tense encounters between Maggie and the bloke who shot Sir Charles.

But along with that mystery is the mystery of Sir Charles's past, in particular the connections between his art collection and his wartime military service. The plot and the alliance of sorts between Maggie and detective Fagan strain my ability to suspend disbelief, but I can still enjoy Helen Mirren's make-believe within make-believe. And the supporting cast is very able. And Franco Nero still has blue eyes in which someone might drown. (Not me--my eyes are blue enough not to find blue eyes alluring.)

The production values (Granada is most famous for the "Brideshead Revisited" miniseries and other toney BBC-PBS miniserieses) are high, and for a Helen Mirren fan (which I am), the outing as a combination of Marianne Faithfull, Jane Tennison, and Meryl Streep is irresistible. The pacing is definitely slower than "thriller" and drags, quite apart from the implausibility of much of the deeper (longer time-spanning) plot. Many scenes and some shots go on too long. Yet the ending is rather rushed.

The DVD includes Russell Baker's "Masterpiece Theater" foreword and afterword to both episodes. I didn't mind the interruption in the middle, but it was definitely strange to include the offer to purchase the very disc I was watching.

© 2008, Stephen O. Murray

This can be an intrepid endearing Englishwoman flick for Barbara's writeoff.




Recommended:
Yes

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