Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

Hollywood has been on a Henry James kick for the last few years, snapping up these wieghty tomes on the loves, lies and scandals of European aristocracy and the unfortunate Americans that get all tangled up in them and turning them into some pretty fine films. Case in point is the lush, fin-de-sciele decadence of this particular offering.

The Wings of the Dove had the unfortunate distinction of going head to head with that leviathan called Titanic. Despite a better script, acting and less pomposity, Dove lost the battle and sank without much of a ripple. It's a shame too.

Both of the stories are similar: they involve lover's triangles, (here it's two women and a man); money and the lack of it; villians that are gorgeous to look at; death and dying, and they both happen on the water, Venice to be exact in Dove's case.

The film opens in the London Underground, as a richly dressed young woman with great dark eyes is offered a seat on the subway by a young man with the most earnest face I've ever seen in film. Later they step into the same elevator, and as the lift rises, so does the passion, as their eyes meet, they touch, and they kiss, involved in each other to the exclusion of all else.

And then we know as the scene shifts and the heroine's eyes open. Is it a dream? Is it a memory? We don't know.

Poor Kate Croy (Helena Bonham Carter), living as a sort of charity case with her wealthy aunt (Charlotte Rampling), dependent on her for her lavish lifestyle. Her father's of no use, he's an opium addict, living in the slums and steadily puffing his life away. To make it all worse, Kate is helplessly in love with someone who's entirely unsuitable, a young reporter, Merton (Linus Roache). Meanwhile, her aunt is pushing her towards one suitor who's got the rank, if not quite the money, Lord Mark, who would dearly love to have the beautiful Kate for his own, except he needs to marry for money, not love. Kate could have Merton, but her aunt will cut her off without a penny if she did that.

And then, one day, Kate meets someone who can change the equation and make all of her dreams come true. Milly (Alison Elliott) is a wealthy American heiress, on her own in Europe with a companion in tow (played by Elizabeth McGovern who's become very typecast in these things), and she and Kate become good friends, enough to where they are seen together and are together, and Kate begins to hatch a terrible plot of deception...

For Milly is dying, something wasting away her vitality and strength and she wants to cram as much living as she can into the time left to her. She invites Kate to come with her to Venice, to see the wonders of that most magical city, and when Merton joins them, the story starts to take on a life of its own to an ending that no one suspects.

This isn't some trivial tale of love and lust and money. We get to see human nature at its best and worst, of friendship and what it can do, and especially love. I really enjoyed this film because it felt so real, so human in the desires and hungers that all of us have.

And of course, that allure of gold.

Gold is everywhere in this film, from sunlight on the waters of the most sublime city on earth, to the jewelry the women wear, to the paintings of Klimt in a gallery, to the money that Kate covets so fiercely, to the Gilded Age itself. Visually, I found it to be stunning, with visions of London at the eve of World War I, shots of Venice from palaces and slums to the madness of Carnivale, and throughout it all, the luminous face and form of Helena Bonham Carter.

Is it a happy film? In a way; I'm not going to spoil it by stating the ending here, it's too good to miss. It's psychological writing at its best, by the end we know these people and their desires, and come away with seeing ourselves as well.

Helena Bonham Carter recieved both a Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations for Best Actress in this, and it was a real shame that she did not get recognized. She's the real draw for this film, moving from innocence to deception and everything in between.

There is sex and passion a plenty in this one, so it is not for children of any age; the themes are very adult and not for minors. Terrific sets and costumes, fine acting and a mature and sensible script. Score by Edward Shearmur, worth the effort to find.





Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age