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 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 indisputably 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 McGovern's sedately elegant attendance is never histrionic. Adapted from Henry James' novel of the the same name, this Neo-classical piece has an imposing buzz on its own merit, some might deem it a shad mawkish, but I'm confidently not among that breed.

The Wings of the Dove (1997)Yes, this is a quite, indirect, thoughtful movie. But it is never slow. And the acting is incredible, almost as incredible as all the dresses and interior sets, which will blow anyone's mind. The story, by Henry James (the master of indirect but probing feelings), is about love of all kinds. And about being a good person, really. Three of the four main leads struggle with doing the right thing (and they do the right thing). The fourth struggles, falters, then comes forward again, then falters, finally, by making a demand that can never be met.It's unfair to compare this kind of period movie (set around 1910 even though James's book was published in 1902) to "A Room with a View" (set in the same decade) but the reason this happens is that the 1985 Merchant-Ivory masterpiece seemed to open up a new way of making period films, filled with beauty and lingering thoughts and, well, feeling. Not the feeling two people have for each other, but a feeling of a time and place. It so happens the star of this 1997 film, Helena Bonham Carter, also starred (magnificently) in the first one.The other star is a man, Linus Roache, who almost overplays his understated character by making him dry and deadpan and polite. But it works, over time, to help make the final few seconds of the film (which are so important) succeed. The third lead, really, in this lopsided triangle, is Alison Elliott, who puts in an equally subtle performance. So much of the movie is about little changes in facial expression, the acting had to rise to the needs of the plot. Bonham Carter, above all, does this with chilling perfection.But those dresses! This is what is called Edwardian England, the first decade of the 20th Century, a time when modernity swept Europe with a passion (Picasso and Klimt) and when cars and other new technologies were surging. The styles of the dresses are part Art Nouveau, with its Asian influences, and part European excess, a showing off of style and wealth and material sensibility. Thank god! It's just breathtaking. The interiors are likewise brimming with tiles and flowers and paintings and light of all kinds.All of this is handled with a cinematic control that reminds me of the color coordination of mid-century Technicolor films, where the palette of a scene is often limited to a pair of colors. You'll see many scenes where a mix of blue and rusty orange are the only two colors in various guises (and these are most common because of the hair and eyes of Elliott). The cinematography is by Eduardo Serra, one of a handful of the most sumptuous contemporary shooters in film ("Girl with the Pearl Earring" and "What Dreams May Come"). And he lets the light and color inhabit every scene, never letting the photography get in the way. Just beautiful.So what does it mean to be a good person? Who cares with all this great acting and beautiful filming? But really, you do care, and it's a touching and provoking film in all its quietness. And it's not a bit obscure. Henry James never quite liked the book, but I think it's because he expected more from it, the themes and characters are so promising. Critics have come to see it as one of his great late novels, and that much is here. Director Iain Softley takes a couple of turns that the book avoids--a little sensational talk toward the beginning, and a frank and sex scene at the end--and both are okay in the film but not actually in keeping with the tone of the rest of it, which is about never quite showing your hand even to your closest friends. It's about waiting to speak, and hiding even good intentions for fear of seeming good when in fact part of being good is simply being good, not merely seeming it.

The Wings of the Dove is a sinister, fascinating love story.Helena Bonham Carter plays Kate Croy, an ambitious but poor young woman who lives on the generosity of a rich aunt. Unable to live poor but not wanting to surrender to the husband her aunt is trying to find for her, she hatches a genius and simple plan: to let her boyfriend, Merton Densher (Linus Roache) seduce the rich and dying American millionaire Millie (Alison Elliott) so that she will leave all her money to him.Carter shines in this movie and her performance is one of the main reasons to watch it. It's one of those rare performances in which all the character's thoughts and feelings are transmitted by the eyes; Carter's eyes are always expressive, she barely needs any dialogue.And yet Hossein Amini's screenplay is also one of the brighter aspects of the movie. I cannot judge ho well he adapted the novel since I haven't yet read it, but as a movie it's a joy: each dialogue is essential, precise and enjoyable; no words are wasted or out of place. The movie's pacing is constant, deceptively calm but always filled with tension, for deception is pretty much the theme of the movie: how far will someone go to deceive another, and what effect will it have on them? For Merton the moral consequences of the deception haunt him as he realizes he may be falling in love with Millie, whereas Kate fears she may be losing her beloved's affection. Between this strange dynamic we have the innocent, cheerful Millie.The movie is also a fine period piece: Sandy Powell got a a much-deserved Oscar nomination for the costume design, but in truth all aspects of the movie deserve merit for their recreation of England in 1910. This movie takes us to places period movies seldom do: the underground system; the interior of bookshops and opium-dens; the interior of museums (in a wonderful sequence the characters attend a Klimt exhibition).And then there's the way Eduardo Serra's cinematography captures Venice in 1910. Serra is an under-appreciated director of cinematography, although he's left his mark in many memorable movies. His best work perhaps remains this movie, in particular the segment taking place in Venice. The way he captures the old canals, the gondolas, the colors at night during Carnival, the decay of the buildings, the beauty of the monuments, perhaps surpass the classic Death In Venice.The Wings of the Dove was a pleasant surprise, an underrated movie that caught me completely by surprise with its perfection. Although it was nominated for several Oscars back in 1998, it seems time has forgotten it. That's a pity, but for those who dare to give it a look, it'll be a huge source of joy!

The inevitable question will be: is "The Wings of the Dove" faithful to its source material? I, alas, can't answer that question for you, because to me Henry James's novel was 800 pages of random words strung together in ways that resembled sentences but made absolutely no other kind of sense. I'd rather be bludgeoned to death with one of his books than ever have to read another one -- the movie version could have featured transvestite cyborgs for all I cared; as long as I wasn't actually having to read it, I was a happy boy.The film is pretty good, about what you'd expect from a period piece based on a famous literary classic. It's got more pizazz than a Merchant-Ivory production, and boasts a great performance from a Merchant-Ivory regular, Helena Bonham Carter. It's nothing special, but probably worth a watch.Grade: B