Quartet (1981) User Reviews

Bleaker than the real-life version.

[Dierdre99 · 6/10 · 4 November 2001]

Abandoned in Paris with no work permit and no savings, when her art-dealing (illegal) Polish husband is sent to prison, Marya Zelli (Isabelle Adjani) accepts the hospitality of the Heidlers, Lois and H.J.(as Lois invariably calls him) which, probably inevitably, involves her providing bed service to H.J. The video box describes the Heidlers as a "freethinking British couple" - if you can accept a couple, with such limited self-awareness and inability to talk through their problems, as freethinkers.

The film is based on the novel by Jean Rhys, based on her own experiences with Ford Madox Ford who presumably had more going for him than H.J., or else he wouldn't be in all those books on the literature of the twenties. Apparently Ford helped Rhys with her novel, and after he tired of her body got her a ghost-writing job on the Riviera. Rhys' husband was out of prison and had abandoned her before she moved in with the Fords. Presumably her major motivation was her devotion to her writing. Marya Zelli, in the film is not a writer, and she stays in Paris because her husband is still in prison. She says more than once to Lois that if given 100 Fr she would disappear (back to England where she could legally work?) but she gets 250 Fr just before moving in with the Heidlers when she sells almost everything she has to the hotel concierge.

Thus while the film is of the desperation of no choice, Marya has in fact fewer options than the real-life Rhys, and the film ending where Marya is thrown on the mercy of her husband's acquaintance from prison, is very bleak, unlike Rhys' fate of being ejected to a writing job.

a moderate Merchant Ivory Production

[lasttimeisaw · 6/10 · 17 July 2016]

Literature cinema maestro James Ivory's 1981 Cannes admission, a film adaptation of Jean Rhys' novel QUARTET, as the name implies, it is a gamble with four participants, aka. two married couples.

In Paris, roaring 20s, the opening credits shift from one hotel to another, augurs the rootless fate of Marya Zelli (Adjani), a young and stunning beauty married to Stephan (Higgins), a handsome but self-interested Polish art dealer, who would soon be put behind the bars for his illegal deals, and leave Marya in penury out of the blue.

Then there is another couple, a wealthy middle-aged English art dealer H.J. Heidler (Bates) and his painter wife Lois (Smith), comes to Marya's rescue, although they only meet her once before, they insist that Marya should live with him under a ménage-à-trois fashion. Soon, we will know that Marya is not the first damsel-in-distress they timely lend a helping hand, a disreputable compromise has been mutually reached between Lois and H.J., as long as H.J. doesn't leave her, she will turn a blind eye on his affaire de coeur with young girls, even under the same roof, "we have a spare room in our apartment".

Marya is easily corrupted by the decadent lifestyle of the Heidlers and their expatriate clique, and after the tentative refusal of H.J.'s advances, she caves in after a bit but inwardly, she still hopes to leave with Stephan after he finishes his one-year sentence, financially dependent on H.J. and Lois, she is unable to make a clean slate even if she wants to. Meanwhile, Lois is also anguished about the inconvenient arrangement, wonders when H.J.'s infatuated phase will end, or this time, it could be herself that be superseded.

Men certainly don't look good in the story, when Stephan is released from the penitentiary, it seems that Marya has a tough call to make, but when everything is laid bare, she doesn't even have that option, on a less pungent note, Ivory invokes the misandry from Rhys' works, women are powerless, without exception, mistreated by men in their lives.

The narrative tweaks and jumps in an upbeat tempo, even when pathos should be evoked, the shot doesn't care to stick around, Ivory's formulaic direction banally basks in its silk-stocking milieu, the plush delicacy of its trimmings, with offbeat notification of a more risqué scenery. Luckily, the two female leads are as presentable as ever, Dame Maggie Smith (who would star in another film with the same name in 2012, a Dustin Hoffman elderly-skewing comedy QUARTET) rarely reveals her vulnerability in front the camera, showcases a master-class endeavour of breakdown which is needed to be GIFed. Adjani, impeccably gorgeous in her prime, and fluent in her bilingual dexterity, launches herself wholeheartedly in the torrent of trepidation, seduction, vacillation and desperation.

Alan Bates is miserly given a stage to justify H.J.'s eloquent equivocation in his immoral business, and Anthony Higgins, whose Stephan takes a back seat among the quartet due to his incarceration, however, flourishes in bringing out a more frank and unapologetic facade of his character although both Stephan and H.J. are equally bad eggs to their women, at least he manifests with a certain flair that's captivating and resolute. Finally, a footnote sends to Sheila Gish, who plays Lois' friend Anna and whose thunder has been stolen by that extraordinary-looking hippopotamus in the zoo. As one of the commodities from Merchant Ivory Productions, QUARTET doesn't represent the best collective results from the Merchant (producer)-Ivory (director)- Jhabvala (screenwriter) trinity, yet, a lavish take of Paris in the early 20th century is something not that common in their repertory, and a BluRay treatment should be taken into consideration in no sooner.

Beautifully made but a lesser Merchant-Ivory film

[TheLittleSongbird · 6/10 · 11 August 2015]

While Quartet may be a lesser Merchant-Ivory film and is no Room with a View, Howard's End of Remains of the Day, it still has a lot to recommend it. It's not great and could have been better, but is decent.

Quartet for starters is beautifully made, as always the costumes and sets are amazingly sumptuous, is lit with a luminous atmosphere and shot with the usual exquisite charm. It's hauntingly scored too, and there is some intelligent scripting too that does have some poignancy and explores the contrast between upper class lifestyles and moral corruption suitably subtly. James Ivory directs with an appropriate amount of restraint, and there is some good acting here. Maggie Smith relishes her juicy character and her performance along with the production values is the best thing about the film. Anthony Higgins is sympathetic enough too.

Alan Bates' character could have been much better realised though, Bates succeeds in being charismatic but he is not intimidating or nuanced enough, Heidler is very one-dimensional and a character you feel nothing for from the get go. Isabelle Adjani is attractive but somewhat too cold and immature, which doesn't make the character's fear resonate. The dialogue is good here, but a better job could have been done with the characters, for they felt sketchily developed and their motivations rushed and unclear. Merchant and Ivory productions are always deliberately paced, but in their very best work the characters and their situations are really compelling and drive the story effectively, unfortunately because that was an aspect that Quartet was (for me) lacking in the pacing did feel a bit lagging and dull.

Overall, lesser Merchant-Ivory but a decent watch. 6/10 Bethany Cox

Quite bland

[lossowitz · 6/10 · 6 April 2013]

Sometimes I want to see a film not for the story or the cinematographic value, but to gain insight in the society of a period and location, and that is the case with Quartet. Paris in the twenties of the 20th century interests me for the audacity, the freedom, the excess, and the seeds that were sown for the development in arts, fashion and philosophy in the years after the second world war, when Paris became touchstone in those areas.

In Quartet Marija, a girl from the French West Indies tries to find her way in Paris after her stateless lover is jailed for communist sympathies. She encounters a British female painter and her husband, the Heidlers, who give her food and shelter, and even as she has her doubts, her lover encourages her to stay with them. Soon it becomes clear that the couple has an agreement, by which the husband is allowed to have affairs with young girls like Marija. The painter makes these allowances out of love and the knowledge she would otherwise lose her husband.

The "game" however, as they call it, turns sour as nobody seems to be aware of their true feelings, and when the husband gets free, he and Marija get back together, leaving the Heidlers to assume their old life, probably looking for a new girl.

Biggest problem for the perhaps otherwise entertaining plot, is the casting of Isabelle Adjani as Marija. Marija is said to be a rough, barely civilized beauty from a French colony, and Heidler tells her time and again that she is from a "whole different world" and has no understanding of their society. However, Adjani looks like every other Parisian beauty in the film, and behaves as if she is at a British boarding school. This discord might be a story device, but that is unlikely for it makes the story not more interesting, but more dull. There is no contrast between the couple and Marija and her husband, all seem to belong to the Parisian artistic clique perfectly. Alan Bates as the husband is quite bland, and not a feverish, dangerous, charismatic man that one would expect Mrs. Heidler to love so deeply. Maggie Smith as Mrs. Heidler is her usual condescending, slightly sarcastic self, hiding a vulnerable soul, which she shows wonderfully in the scene where she breaks down and sobs boundlessly.

The scenes in the cabarets and cafés could have been expanded for they provide such a great backdrop, and show glimpse of the naughty nightlife that makes the period so interesting.

too long for what it was

[blanche-2 · 6/10 · 21 December 2016]

"Quartet" from 1981 takes place in Paris in 1927.

Marya Zelli (Isabelle Adjani) and her husband Stephan (Anthony Higgins) in Paris and seem very much in love. One night, Marya and Stephan are in a club and Marya is summoned over to the table of the Heidlers, Lois and E.J. (Maggie Smith and Alan Bates). Lois is a painter and wants the stunning Marya to pose for her.

Stephan is selling stolen art and is arrested and given a one-year sentence. Marya has no work visa. The Heidlers invite her to live in their spare room, which she does.

It turns out that Heidler marriage isn't what it seems to the outside world. The reality is that Lois sort of procures pretty young women for her husband so that he'll stick around. Lois continues to visit Stephan in prison. But once released, he will have to leave Paris, and he will be broke. She's stuck -- she can't possibly be attracted to E.J., who is homely, but then again, it's either that or she lives on the street.

This is a story we've seen before, as in Sister Carrie, where a woman in those days had very few options. It's actually based on a novel by Jean Rhys, which tells the story of her relationship with Ford Maddox Ford.

Hard to believe this is a Merchant-Ivory film, but there it is. The film moves slowly, and at 1:45, it's too long and the people who made the picture knew it - we are treated to no less than three nightclub acts, and they're not short.

The acting, of course, is fantastic, particularly from Maggie Smith, as a woman desperate to hold onto her husband at any cost. Why, we don't know, because they probably don't have much if any sex life. Alan Bates transforms himself into a homely, paunchy man and does an excellent job as a boring satyr.

Until she destroyed her face with fillers and heaven knows what else, Isabelle Adjani was, by a mile, one of the most beautiful women in the world. It's hard to believe her character couldn't find some rich guy to marry and was settling for her unpleasant situation at the Heidlers. In the dresses of the period, she is exquisite. Her acting is excellent -- you can feel her frustration, depression, and acquiescence. Anthony Higgins has the smallest role but is very effective.

The film turned out to be a flat experience. It's a shame because such talent could have been involved in a much more involving story.

Too literal a translation, perhaps?

[parsifalssister · 7 November 2010]

It was not an easy film to watch, but watch it, I did. I did because I read Rhys in the 60s, and the book that drove this film among them. It does follow that story, but perhaps as other reviewers noted translating the novel to the screen was too much, too soon, or too literal.

Smith carries the film, while Bates and Adjani appear overly dramatic and disconnected as lovers.

The desperation of Marya (Adjani) is somewhat trivialized, while the Paris in which the story unfolds is nearly glorified but presented exactly how I image it in the 20s & 30s. Marya, while not literally Jean Rhys herself, is a reasonable facsimile and her doomed relationship with her first husband, and Ford Madox Ford became the basis of Quartet. In thinking about how the story plays out I remember how vulnerable and lost the author was and how much of herself she stuffed into her writing. But in that writing was a subtlety that did not translate onto the screen.

I gave it perhaps too high a vote, but it gets this 7 for its Ivory-Merchant treatment of painterly beauty which I always admire.

Not a Quartet, simply a Maggie Smith solo...

[film-critic · 7/10 · 30 August 2008]

"Quartet" was nothing more than just "Sad Café" with Redgrave replaced by Maggie Smith. Sure, the stories are different, but Smith carried this film – throughout the hour and forty minutes, I watched just her, apathetic towards anyone else. The music was dull, the scenery was again beautiful but teetered on repetitious, and our story was non-existent. Cheating socialites … art thieves … wives attempting to keep control … the elements were all in place, but M&I could not carry the raw emotion to this film. "Quartet", simply put, was downgraded to a miserable solo.

Merchant & Ivory did a great job in showing us Paris, 1920, both physically and emotionally. Having watched other films trying to capture the feel and vision of this era, they went above and beyond by handing us scenes in apartments, lounges, and those eccentric party scenes. The detail towards both the locations and the costumes were amazing, especially for Maggie Smith who seemed perfect in her imagined time and place. There was even this great scene that demonstrated the sexual consensus during this era. As this is a film about the honesty of love, it fit well into the dual-emotions being felt by both Smith and Adjani (the woman who moves into Smith and Bates' relationship). Ivory, directing this film, has done a phenomenal job of building the imagery, such as the places, events, and material feel for "Quartet", and he even does a great job in giving us the symbolism of the characters. Smith, playing the dedicated wife to her husband, HJ (played by Alan Bates), is eerily similar to the youthful Adjani - seemingly unable to say no to the forceful advances of Bates. Ivory gives us this rare glimpse to see what a youthful Smith may have been experiencing when she first met Bates, and why she allows this destructive ménage a trios. Coupled with the other sexual parodies throughout, Ivory has captured his desired emotions, but where "Quartet" fails is that he doesn't know what to do with them.

So, our scenes are set up beautifully. The underlining meaning behind our characters is also in place (giving graduate students something to talk about), but exactly does this film fail. "Quartet" never reaches the level of "Sad Café" because outside of Maggie Smith, none of our characters are worth their price. A maniacal combination of over-the-top acting and horrid editing, one would nearly need to watch "Quartet" four times before fully seeing the central characters come to life. This was a difficult film to follow, because our leads were impossible to stand behind, and our story seemed rushed and never quite developed. Sure, we had great visuals to accompany them, but it wasn't enough. I never thought I knew the pressures of Adjani throughout the entire film – the anger of Bates seemed to come from left field (not enough development), and Adjani's husband could have been a cardboard cut-out and still be able to get the job done. Due to the sub-par acting, Maggie Smith was able to chomp down hard and demonstrate a full range of abilities. "Quartet" is worth watching merely for Smith, but the rest will leave you bored. It fails because Ivory has created a film with the minority in mind.

This is not a film for everyone, and having seen several slow-moving British films, it wasn't even right for me. Ivory seems to be lacking a universal message, something that one could escape from the film with. Something that, in a group of friends, one could say "But I did like this part because…" For "Quartet" it wasn't there. Perhaps it was the translation from Jean Rhys' novel. Not everything can be translated from the printed page, and where you could read a scene as less subtle, Ivory went hysterical. There were just these moments, especially near the end, where instead of coming to a conclusion, Ivory instituted anger, rage, and screaming. It just didn't work. It didn't fit these under-developed characters. My major issue with this film is that events took place that didn't fit our actors. We were subjugated to watch them do things in this film that I do not believe they would actually do – our character's actions seemed to negate their voice.

Overall, "Quartet" stimulated my visual senses, demonstrated the power of Maggie Smith, and slipped some symbolic messages deep within the sub-text of the film, but on every other level it failed. Again, Smith proved that even playing a secondary character, she could take the role, give us those emotion-filled eyes, and steal away every scene possible. Even when she wasn't on screen, we couldn't help but wonder what she was doing. Ivory, as director, cannot seem to control the story. His failure comes with the horrid translation of Rhys' work. They chose to replace emotion with rage, which transformed the story's irony of love into confusing connections. Paris, 1920s, was beautiful. He hit his stride very well with our location, but the rest of the film flopped like a suffocating fish. "Quartet" is a very dry film – due mainly in part to our disastrous actors unable to life and the doldrums the repeating score. It had quite a bit of potential, but never quite fulfilled any promises. Merchant & Ivory created a film that some will love, but missed their opportunity to appeal to greater masses. Not that this film had to be a blockbuster, by strengthening the characters as well as the story, Ivory could have had another solid cinematic experience. Instead, it fumbled – causing the viewers to be the ones that suffered the most.

Grade: ** ½ out of *****

A serious disappointment

[Oblomov_81 · 4/10 · 20 February 2003]

It's hard to say exactly why "Quartet" fails. There are certainly some good things to be said; Maggie Smith gives her character just the right mix of not-too-subtle cynicism and self-loathing, and the photography by Pierre Lhomme does a fine job of complementing the surroundings. But there is something missing. The Merchant-Ivory-Jhabvala trio have always invested their stories with a strong compassion for their characters, lending a quiet urgency to the tone. Yet there is little of that feeling here.

The desperation of Isabelle Adjani's Marya simply does not ring clear, perhaps because her emotions are kept at a distance from the viewer when they should be brought to the forefront of the story. Marya views Heidler (Alan Bates) as a dominating force, but her fears and his intimidation never develop into anything effective. Bates is an actor who can always be depended on to provide a good performance, but his character is not given enough weight to dominate the screen when he should. In films such as `Howards End' and `The Remains of the Day,' the emotional conflicts between the characters drive the story and keep the (attentive) viewer involved; here, the conflicts do not spurn enough interest because the motivations of those involved are not very clear. The overall effect of "Quartet" is very cold and somber, with few, if any, memorable results.

A complex film, the harsh fate of a young woman without resources in the twenties...

[Peegee-3 · 8/10 · 20 August 2000]

In the tradition of some Merchant/Ivory films...this one deals with very profound social realities for a young woman (Isabelle Adjani)in Paris in the 1920s whose husband is a thief, is jailed. She is left penniless and without means of support (has no working papers). A rather strange English couple (Maggie Smith and Alan Bates) offer her refuge...but at the price of seduction by the husband, tolerated by the artist wife, who is inordinately tied to him emotionally. The young woman's emotional and psychological state is thrown into almost unbearable ambivalance...Love for her husband whom she visits weekly in jail and the need for survival. The film's visual beauty, the lighting, the intensity of color, the evocation of the "jazz age", the cabarets, the authentic costuming, in addition to the splended acting and direction make this a film deserving of far more attention than it's received, in my opinion. A truly cinematic experience of significance.

Do they have class or are they merely classy?

[HuntinPeck80 · 7/10 · 13 July 2023]

QUARTET (1981): Isabelle Adjani, Alan Bates, Maggie Smith, Anthony Higgins. A French actress lost amongst the Brits. The dialogue shifts back and forth from French to English. The cinematography is generally murky and cold. Adjani's Mado is a foreigner in town whose husband gets pinched for theft and she has no recourse but to move in with a strange, arty English couple who have taken a fancy to her. The husband (Bates) is a bit of a bounder, and his wife (Smith) tolerates it in a timid sort of way. If this were made today then the aren't-men-awful theme would be underlined in red and capitalised in bold. In this 1981 production we are allowed to realise it for ourselves. But the film is so muted, so dreary, despite the glowing presence of Adjani, and the British couple so constipated, well, is it worth the bother? One keeps wishing for a good punch in the face or a sudden revolver being drawn and fired. The trouble with Quartet is that it is full of behaviour and expressions of feeling that are so antiquated one has trouble empathising with anyone. And as Bates says, it's all so sordid. A sorry, sad lot of exiles. But I'll say this, it ends on an exquisite note of tristesse.

Unconvincing story

[vixenviewer · 3/10 · 14 July 2013]

This movie was beautifully filmed, like all Merchant-Ivory productions, but was difficult to watch. The affair between Adjani's character and Bates' character was completely unbelievable. He was such a creep it was just stomach-turning when Adjani succumbs to his pressure to have sex with him. There was no discernible reason for her to fall in love with him, so it was hard to have sympathy for her character at all. Maggie Smith played her part very well, and was convincing, but again, not sympathetic. Alan Bates was just repugnant. The only sympathetic character was the Polish husband, who was in jail for most of the movie. Another puzzling thing about the movie is that, according to one of the reviewers on this page, there was some suspicion that the husband and Adjani were Bolshevists. While watching the movie, though, it seemed more likely that he was jailed for selling stolen property (the sword, which we saw early in the movie).

Astonishing sense of place, time and trouble.

[ewc · 9/10 · 4 March 2003]

Few screenwriters have ever jumped the gap that Jhabvala traversed between THE EUROPEANS (1979) and QUARTET (1981). I know of no other film that captures as well the sense of European pre-WW2 'decadence' (compare CABARET for an object lesson in failure!), or that is directed and photographed with stronger integration of the settings, colours, sounds and behavior within the story being told. A remarkable achievement - the film that put filmmakers on notice about how well the remarkable Jhabvala/Ivory/Merchant trio present stories locked into their space and time.

Not Sure About This...

[derek-duerden · 7/10 · 11 October 2023]

It's difficult to write about Isabelle Adjani in this period without using the word "luminous" - and I was trying to look past that into the film itself, and the performances.

As others have noted, Maggie Smith is in commanding form and really anchors the film, whereas I felt that Alan Bates was a bit muted - albeit playing an unpleasant character. Adjani is mostly fine but I felt that we had no time in the beginning (or indeed later) to really get to know her husband, so her ongoing devotion to him looks poorly founded and, given the affair with Bates, confusing in any case. I was also unconvinced by her being characterised as "from the West Indies". Surely there was an easier way to explaining her difficulty in getting a work visa?

I'm sure that similar arrangements were not uncommon but the script could have worked harder to maintain full plausibility, I feel. Worth a look for the performances though.

Too weird for me

[HotToastyRag · 2/10 · 8 March 2021]

In this Merchant Ivory production, you'll see lots of period costumes, pretty Parisian scenery, and fun hairstyles of the 1920s. You won't, however, get immersed in a quality story. Predictable at best, this pseudo-love triangle stars Maggie Smith, Alan Bates, and Isabelle Adjani. Maggie and Alan are a bored married couple; Maggie puts up with Alan's dalliances for some unknown reason. Stand by your man, low self-worth, or believing she deserves bad treatment - but when Alan takes a liking to Isabelle, Maggie supports his hobby. She invites Isabelle to move into their guest room.

Meantime, Isabelle's husband has been arrested. She visits him dutifully in prison, and as a "slow burn" that didn't actually burn, Alan watches his prey until the moment is right for him to make his move. While waiting, there's an excess of gratuitous nudity, nightclub singers that don't advance the plot as they sing song after song, and a casual attitude of the Paris society set. I really didn't enjoy this movie, and since no one I know would either, I can't really recommend it.

Kiddy Warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, due to graphic nudity, I wouldn't let my kids watch it.

An autobiographical story

[djpass · 23 August 2003]

Jean Rhys wrote this novel about her relationship with the then prominent writer Ford Madox Ford. While a young woman's husband is in prison, she is taken in by a writer and his wife, becoming the man's mistress. It was not a happy affair, but at least Rhys got her revenge with this story.

Superb acting, excellent craftsmanship, and a solid story - and unimpressive direction that squanders them all

[I_Ailurophile · 4/10 · 1 December 2023]

Not all films appeal equally to all viewers. Maybe it might be some particular quality or qualities about a film that sit with us the wrong way, or maybe there's nothing particularly wrong and a film just fails to capture our imagination. I see all the hard work that went into 'Quartet,' and all the splendid potential that should be borne out in the story. I can't help it, though: this just makes no real impression on me.

It boasts a terrific cast; for my part it was Isabelle Adjani's involvement that specifically drew me in. The costume design is outstanding, the hair and makeup are most lovely, and the art direction is superb. The cinematography is smart and flavorful, and the actors give excellent performances. As the length advances past the half hour mark the story picks up with increasing points of interest: the spectacle and hedonism of the Roaring Twenties, something seedy about Lois and H. J., conflicts between Marya's love for her husband and her an off-kilter relationship to the Heidlers, and more. One need not be familiar with the source material to quickly gain a sense that it's a tale that could easily be staged as a play, or adapted freely (though there really was nothing like the 1920s, however romanticized they may be in retrospect). All this is well and good.

Yet even as the story picks up, and despite especial instances of tension, heightened emotions, or zest, to me James Ivory's direction - and the consequent dominant tone - is flat and humdrum. Sometimes I've started watching a picture when I was feeling a bit tired, and it was so rich and flavorful that it perked me right up and gave me a second wind. Sometimes I've started watching a picture when I was ready and rearing to go, and it was so unremarkable and bland that I had to pause for a while because it was putting me to sleep. 'Quarter' fits in the latter category. The tale should be ripe for cinematic storytelling, acting of passion and nuance, and one scene after another that's absorbing and tantalizing. Instead, the proceedings are overall muted and soporific, the storytelling feels a tad scattered with a progression that's less than meaningful, and major spikes of clamor may come across as false overacting. There actually is a lot to like here, at least on paper and in terms of the visual presentation, but I'm just not convinced Ivory was the right person to bring it to life.

True, there are worse ways to spend one's time. If there was any possibility of saving this, it was strictly on the strength of the acting - surely from five-time César winner Adjani above all, but Alan Bates, Maggie Smith, and their co-stars to very nearly the same extent. I'm glad for those who get more out of the whole shebang than I do. For all that this feature had going for it, I nevertheless found it increasingly hard to care about it as the length drew on; I was just rather bored, and I regretted my decision to watch. Check out 'Quartet' if you want, I won't stop you, but whatever it is that one wants or hopes for out of it, I think one's time is much better spent elsewhere.

A brilliant film of desperate sadness (Woolcott) and naivete in a French setting

[cestmoi · 9/10 · 12 May 2001]

That this was seen on a first visit to Paris at the Pathe Hautefeuille in the 6th may color the memory, but there it is. The sad Woolcott figure played by Bates is desperate (as is his Maggie Smith [BRILLIANT!] wife, a sad and cynical lady) and has an eye for new flesh. (This is pure Noel Harrison (Rex's boy) "new flesh to carve," as in his Young Girl cut.) The Woolcottioan figure is paunchy, unattractive, hungry, but with some social clout, and skincrawling. Maggie's character aids and abets. What's her line? One wonders if the satyr is in fact impotent. Cinematography, music, story line, cast...over reasonable expectations. Desperate story from a sad and deserate writer, Rhys, a suicide, I seem to recall. Ivory did this? Harder than the usual soft stuff the boyos do. Wondeful. Buy it.

one thumb down

[ctg2005 · 7 September 2011]

I was looking forward to see this movie. Finally I did and I was really disappointed. I'm positive about one thing: the script was weak and superficial. Ruth Prawer did not a good job this time. In an interview Ivory said that she was not fond of the idea of making a movie from that novel. Well, Ivory did convince her, but he was completely wrong. She botched the job, that's sure. Bates and Smith do a very good job, I'm not sure Adjani does. Anyway, I don't like to say these things about a movie director I admire so much, but truth before everything. I shall wipe my tears away watching Maurice and The remains of the day, truly the best of his movies.

"There's nothing beautiful."

[treeline1 · 12 July 2013]

The story opens in Paris, in the 1920s, where a wealthy, loveless couple (Maggie Smith, Alan Bates) goes from party to party and is still bored. He is disgusted with his older wife and she, in an effort to keep him happy, has a habit of procuring young women to live with them for his benefit.

The acting by Smith and Bates (and Isabelle Adjani and Anthony Higgins, as the innocent young couple) is flawless, but the story is sordid, sad, and utterly depressing. It ends on a hopeless note, leaving me sorry I watched it. The glittery, jazzy, Parisian scene is convincing with beautiful sets and costumes, but they couldn't relieve the ugliness of it all.

This Merchant-Ivory movie was made in 1981, and is unrelated to this year's, "Quartet," which also stars Maggie Smith. Recommended if you like character-driven movies and don't mind an overwhelmingly sad theme.