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Henry James' novel The Golden Bowl is here adapted into one of the most beautiful films yet from the Merchant Ivory stable (and that's saying something given their penchant for fin de siècle subject matter). But it was an unwieldy novel and as a film it's flawed just like the titular bowl. The action centres on Maggie, daughter of American millionaire Adam Verver, who is married to the impoverished Italian nobleman Amerigo, who had previously had a secret affair with the poor but scheming Charlotte. The square is completed when Charlotte marries the widowed Adam. Although Maggie (artlessly played by Kate Beckinsdale) begins the film as a complete innocent, it is ultimately she who takes tacit control of the tangled relationships.

Nick Nolte brings a patrician quality to the part of Adam, whose main obsession in life is collecting objects of beauty and value for a museum he's planning in the States. Jeremy Northam's Amerigo is convincing without being likeable. It is Charlotte, however, who is the centre around which everything else revolves and Uma Thurman relies too heavily on her own charms and not enough on strong characterisation. In the end, she is not sufficiently magnetic for her role to ring true.

On the DVD: The Golden Bowl's sumptuous settings are a glory to behold, and beautifully captured here. The inclusion of original film footage from early last century adds tremendously to the period flavour and the behind-the-scenes interviews and brief film of Merchant Ivory's past endeavours add to the appeal of the package, though there are effectively no subtitles or language options. --Harriet Smith

Release Date: Nov 4, 2002
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