Jan. 05, 2003 - 4:58 pm
well this should finish up the Daniel Day-Lewis marathon for the week. he has more of a supporting role in this film, but it's still worth watching if you're a fan of his performances. this is a James Ivory film that's sort of the normal English style of film that becomes popular with American female audiences. i hope that doesn't sound sexist because i myself also very much enjoy this type of film. i just mean to say that your average American man probably wouldn't go in as easily for films like Pride and Prejudice (1995) or Sense and Sensibility (1995).
this film is sort of in the same vein with those. being a period film that is approximately one third comedy, on third drama, and one third romance. the protagonist is a young English girl named Lucy, played by Helena Bonham Carter, who is rather reserved to begin with and is still learning about the world. she and her chaperon Charlotte, played by Maggie Smith, are on a vacation learning about Italy and its sights. while there, they meet quite a few new interesting English people, two of which are father and son. as they spend more time with the group, Lucy and the son, George, begin to take a slight interest in each other. when a kiss between them is seen one day by the chaperon, Lucy is quickly taken back to England where her marriage is arranged with Daniel Day-Lewis' character. he's a rather prissy bookworm who is kind, but seems to be more interested in Lucy as a possession than as a person. when Lucy hears that George and his father are actually moving in nearby her English home, trouble starts and you can probably imagine what else might happen.
i think i need to see some more Helena Bonham Carter films. one good one i saw part of recently was The Theory of Flight (1998) with Kenneth Branagh. she plays a young woman dying of motor neuron disease who wants to lose her virginity before her death. it sounds weird, but it's good. it's weird because Helena Bonham Carter is also in The Wings of the Dove (1997), which i mentioned the other day during the Daniel Day-Lewis marathon. i think i had mistaken it for The Age of Innocence (1993). another film circle i've fallen into.
all i have to say about Daniel Day-Lewis in this one is again that his amazing amount of range as an actor constantly impresses me. all of his characters are so different, yet so brilliantly played. and you can always feel a bit of him in each one of them.
on a more personal note, i finally got to quit my evil job doing tech support. i will now be doing some more library work. and this time i'll actually be showing movies to people as i'll be working in the audiovisual department. and possibly some professional part time work involving websites? we'll see what the coming days bring...