Description

A story of a girl who, adrift with her feckless husband amid the literati of glittering Paris in the 1920s, becomes entrapped by a rich and sybaritic English couple.From the wistful melancholy of the autobiographical novel by Jean Rhys, Quartet is full of intense confrontations dazzlingly acted by Alan Bates, Maggie Smith, Anthony Higgins, and Isabelle Adjani.The characters act out their passions not only in the usual seedy cafés and louche hotels of Rhys’ Parisian novels but also the smoky jazz haunts and lavish settings of a James Ivory film.Nevertheless, Quartet remains, in theme, one of the Merchant Ivory team’s darkest and most compelling dramas of relationships dangerously intertwined. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

an overlooked Merchant/Ivory treasure
Since its release in the early 1980s, Quartet hasn't been remembered as much as some of their other films. Thats a shame because Quartet is one of their finer works. A very engrossing drama about mind control and deceit. As one would expect from M & A, the attention to detail in recreating the roaring 20's is fabulous. Alan Bates does a wonderful job as H.B., the controlling maniac disguised as a gentleman. Maggie Smith is heartbreaking as the passive wife who tries desperately to cling to her husband despite his infidelities. But its Isabelle Adjani who steals the show. Her character's development from innocent, to arrogant, to ignorant makes Quartet memorable. ... Read more

Description

Merchant Ivory Productions, The Criterion Collection, and Home Vision Entertainment are proud to present The Merchant Ivory Collection

In Boston in the aftermath of the Civil War, Verena Tarrant (Madeleine Potter), a gifted young orator, has attracted the attention of Olive Chancellor (Vanessa Redgrave), who wishes to nurture Verena as an inspirational force for the Womens’ Movement. But ranged against her is Basil Ransom (Christopher Reeve), a handsome male chauvinist, who wants Verena as his wife. Against a backdrop of luminous New England landscapes, battle is joined, and for Olive the struggle will prove an odyssey that forces her to acknowledge her true nature. Merchant Ivory Productions’ acclaimed screen adaptation of the Henry James classic charts the struggle between two charismatic forces to gain control over the destiny of a spirited young woman. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

NOT SO PRIM AND PROPER...
This is a solid, Merchant-Ivory screen adaptation of the Henry James novel of the same name. Set in the nineteenth century, shortly after the civil war, a young newcomer to the then nascent suffragette movement, Varena Tarrant (Madeleine Potter), captures the hearts of many with her eloquent, passionate oratory on the second class citizenry of women.

Olive Chancelloer (Vanessa Redgrave), a wealthy Bostonian, is a patroness of the suffragette movement. Together with her southern cousin, the handsome and strapping Basil Ransom (Christopher Reeve), she goes to hear Varena speak. Both are entranced by Varena, and Olive takes her under her wing, trying to give her the polish she needs in order for Varena to take a prominent place of leadership within the women's movement.

Basil has other plans, as he is smitten. He pursues Varena relentlessly, with the objective of making her his wife and having her assume a traditional role within the framework of marriage. In his way, stands Olive, who, though still in the closet, clearly has very strong and passionate feelings for Varena, who seems oblivious to Olive's true desires.

In the meantime, Varena expands her horizons and become a favorite on the lecture circuit. She captures the hearts of many young men along the way, much to Olive's dismay, including that of wealthy, Henry Burrage (Jon Van Ness), who is fully supportive of Varena's participation in the movement. His mother, Mrs. Burrage (Nancy Marchand), is very much aware that Olive is an impediment to the potential union of Henry and Varena. She tries to talk to Olive about a match between the two, only to have Olive immediately take Varena away in response to the threat that Henry poses.

Unfortunately for Olive, her cousin Basil is more persistent. To see who wins this tug of war for Varena's heart, one must see the movie. Vanessa Redgrave, who was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of Olive Chancellor, gives a stunning performance as the sexually represessed, still in the closet, lesbian. Fearsome in her devotion to Varena, she passionately fights tooth and nail, within the constraints of the mores of the time, to keep Varena free of any romantic encumbrances with the opposite sex. Regdgrave does this with a deft touch, giving a beautiful and well nuanced performance.

Madeleine Potter does the best that she can with the role of Varena, managing to imbue the character with a certain intelligence and sweetness. She lacks, however, the beauty, charm, and winsomeness necessary to convince the viewer that she can so passionately stir the hearts of so many. She also lacks the skill necessary to persuade the viewer see what is, obviously, not there.

Christopher Reed gives a credible, though not showstopping, performance in the role of Basil, Olive's rival for the affections of Varena. Nancy Marchand, on the other hand, gives a superb performance as Mrs. Burrage, the woman who, seeing what Olive is up to, plays a verbal cat and mouse game with her in hopes of having Olive see reason with respect to her son's suit for Varena's hand.

All in all, those who love period pieces should enjoy this one, if only for Vanessa Redgrave's brilliant perofrmance. Unfortunately, this DVD does not offer much of anything by way of special features. It does not even provides a particularly good picture, as it is somewhat grainy in quality.

HORRIBLE DVD QUALITY
I love the Merchant-Ivory period films for their visual beauty and intricate literary adaptations that are usually done with great intelligence and taste. The Bostonians is not up there with Remains of the Day or Howards End by any means, but it's a very fine adaptation of the Henry James novel. That said, let me talk about this DVD: I have seen better quality on video! DVDs should be sharp, pristine, not muddy and with lines flashing across the screen and other annoying defects. This movie needs to be remastered and presented in wide screen. Some scenes actually cut people's faces in half. It's so disappointing to see a gorgeous movie like this on a format that has so many technical flaws. The night scenes, of which there are several, are abominable. My suggestion to the distributors is to release a better quality copy on DVD. Vanessa Redgrave's brilliant, Oscar-nominated performance deserves much better than this mediocre (at best) disc. I'm returning my copy today!!!!!!!

I enjoyed this movie
And compared to the book, it's a rip-roarer. The actress who plays Verena lacks the appeal that would make Olive's and Basil's fascination with her really explicable, and Christopher Reeve's Basil isn't very convincing either. But who cares, he's gorgeous, and the scene where Basil kisses Verena is worth the price of the movie.

When will this movie end?
The Bostonians is based on a Henry James novel and it is just awful. The plot is not interesting and the characters not the least bit engaging. The movie is long and boring. Period. ... Read more

Description

A masked, naked, clay-covered band of jungle primitives are disturbed in the middle of a human sacrifice by the sudden intrusion of a croquet ball. Led by their high priestess, they trek through the forest in search of its origins and arrive at an immense, deserted manor house. They occupy the mansion, which begins to have a civilizing effect on the savages; individual personalities emerge, and with them, pasts, futures, family connections, ambitions, and other trappings of society. Over the course of a weekend get-together, the savages soon become grand socialites, in fine clothes, who give elaborate dinner parties, where the talk is of world politics, art, and the fascinations of anthropology. But then their civilization begins to fall apart; the savages' manners and morals deteriorate and they even lose the habit of speech. By Monday dawn they have shed their clothes and we last see them retreating into the forest and their Stone Age lives.

The first American film from Merchant Ivory Productions is also their most uncommon and most unexpected, especially for audiences only familiar with their Indian films or their period films set in Europe or America. A fascinating meditation on the rise and fall of civilizations, with a witty screenplay by George Swift Trow and Michael O'Donoghue, Savages is filmed in an improvisatory, experimental style and merges a series of tragic—comic tableaux with pseudo-scholarly documentary narration and title cards. The result is a dark, biting satire that will turn viewer expectations upside-down.
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Reviews (4)

Actors must have needed a paycheck! Ugh!!
Weird is hardly adequate for this thing. I tried to watch this one, but fast forwarded through most of it. Obviously not my taste to keep this dumb movie in my library, so I didn't. Truly the actors must have needed the work. Can't you imagine their giggling through this thing as they marched ...through the muddy forest to their next adventure! They followed the bouncing/rolling wooden ball to discover a new era, including a chest of old clothes and how to wear them. That was somewhat amusing, even though briefly. If you like odd, old scripts, you might like this thing. But alas! The characters head back to their life in the jungle. Get real!

We like Sam Waterston in just about any role he's chosen. His part in this one is OK, but it's almost embarrassing to see him in this kind of movie. It's just not worthy of him. This movie is from 1972 when he was only 32-years old and had a 2-year old to feed. He must have needed to pay the rent too!

I really don't like to be negative regarding a review, but if you're going to spend your money to get it, and your time to see it, you should be aware that it's really strange! (Don't want this video on my Sam Waterston library shelf. He's so excellent in his later roles. Try one of those.) Hope this helps you out.

JUNGLE DUMS..........
THE MUD People are about to perform the usual human sacrifice, when out of nowhere - lo! A red ball [croquet I recall] comes whizzing out of nowhere and lands in their midst! Fascinated, they abandon the victim and trace the trajectory back to its origin - a decaying, vast, ancient mansion 'in the jungle'. THEN AN astute member finds a trunk filled with rather lovely period costumes [circa 1920 ish], and as they start donning the robes - they transform the action into something along the lines of Gatsby revisited ........ Hmmmm a quaint concept - and it does hold attention!

ODD little movie from the early 70ties with Sam Waterston, Salome Jens, Kathleen Widdoes, even Ultra Violet. [An Early
James Ivory for your collection]

Superb Costumes and Art direction - if you're in a quirky "Brazil type" mood.

Savages
This movie was way ahead of its time. A terrific satire on the sophistication of our civilization. A group of savages are able to emulate 20th century life until tragedy strikes and forces them back to the existence of their comfort zone. "The Gods Must Be Crazy" is a me-too copy of this classic film. Not for the "light-hearted".

What the?????
Ok, I'm a big fan of O'Donoughue. However, this thing is seriously weird. If you dig the surreal, this flick's for you. This is VERY surreal. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

TWO GREAT ACTORS CAN MAKE INTERESTING A CONVENTIONAL MOVIE.
"Mr. And Mrs. Bridge" stars Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, playing a 1940 marriage. This is a conventional drama with excellent performances, the characters are nothing out of this world, they are a bunch of characters very similar to real life people, the story is not very original, it's just a bunch of rich people living a conventional life, but these two great actors carried on their shoulders the weight of an otherwise uninteresting movie, making "Mr. And Mrs. Bridge" an enjoyable movie.

Basically this is the story of the struggle between two generations, the iron hand discipline of a stiff father and the "rebellion" of his daughter and son who want to escape from the monotony of the life of their parents. And trapped in the middle is Mrs. Bridge, who even though she mostly obeys her husband, once in a while she likes to try new things to inject happiness to her life.

"Mr. And Mrs. Bridge" is an entertaining movie thanks to the performances of Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward.

Oh my God it's my Aunt Marjorie!
Anyone who is originally from the Midwest has a Mrs. Bridge in the family, maybe not as affluent, but just as dippy and helpless. Mrs. Bridge knows enough to resent vaguely her helplessness and the fact that Mr. Bridge makes all of her decisions for her. The viewer is sympathetic with her plight and starts to feel that Mr. Bridge is indeed being mean & unfair to her...but then Mrs. Bridge goes and does something that underscores her inability to cope for herself.

There were more scenes than I can count that just made me cringe, because I recognized my dippy Aunt Marjorie, again & again, in Mrs. Bridge. The spirit of Mrs. Bridge remains alive and well, even today.

This was a great character study of the two Bridges. The other members of the family, and some of the friends of the Bridges, are a bit fuzzier in their definition, but that is not all that important. This is a very engrossing movie in many respects.

2 thumbs up
If you are looking for violence, lots of sex and fast cars, wrong movie! But if you are looking for a thought provoking, tender, poignant and often funny story, you've hit the jackpot. I am running out of adjectives for my two favorite actors (Newman and Woodward ought to be declared America's royalty) They shine here. Much deserved Oscar nomination for Woodward and should have been one for Newman, who never ceases to amaze. Blythe Danner is a plus as well. I thouroughly enjoyed it.

A movie with memorable moments
This is one of those films with a lot of those "Memorable Moments" that you will remember years after viewing it. The scene where Mr. Bridge refuses to let a dangerous storm spoil his dinner. The hotel bedroom scene where Mr. and Mrs. Bridge find themselves sleeping akwardly in front of a mirror. The scene where Mr. Bridge takes Mrs. Bridge to a cabaret in France filled with scantily clad women doing the Can-Can and the priceless look that Mrs. Bridge has on her face.

It's about two traditional people thrust into a new world filled with free thinkers and sexual awakenings and the honest, but humerous reactions as they try to deal with it all. Everytime I watch this film I'm suprised at what I didn't catch before, and even the scenes I remember always seem to catch me off guard.

The humor comes from the humanity within the two main characters, and it's often more funny than the best comedies you will ever watch.

Highly recommended!

Newman and Woodward Equally Wonderful
I don't know why so many people always give short shrift to Paul Newman when he appears with his wife, Joanne Woodward, in a film. They are both stunning actors at the peak of their acting powers in this movie. There really is no need to compare and contrast perfection itself. Merchant-Ivory is wonderful at handling the upper classes, whether they be British or American, in London, or, in this case, Kansas City, in the 1930s and 1940s. What stands out most vividly to me is that Mr. Bridges' heart condition is really not treatable back then. We are so used to heart surgery now, that life lived with a heart condition back in the 1930s and 1940s is forgotten as being an entirely different situation. The movie is about this couple and their extended family and the crises they weather. This, however, is basically what every Merchant-Ivory film is about and this one covers every nuance within the Bridges' family's structure and behavior. I really love the beautiful body of film work by Merchant-Ivory and I'm really glad that some of it is American, set in our heartland, with the cream of our acting crop. ... Read more

Description

Tony-Award winning playwright Terrence McNally ("Love! Valour! Compassion!") adapted this short story by John Cheever for the Broadway stage. With haunting eloquence, director James Ivory (A Room With a View) presents the story of a philandering executive who is stalked by an unstable former secretary whom he seduced and then fired. Starring Mary Beth Hurt (Interiors) and Laurence Luckinbill. ... Read more

Reviews (21)

A acting miracle by the young Leelee Sobieski!!!
I saw this film in a small art house and didn't know what to expect. The movie is long, but it's one of those films that you sit through and can't realize the time and don't care. The young Leelee Sobieski character (Chane) was a smartly written role that only she could pull off. The film starts out with american ex-patriots who spend there time in France while writer Kris Kristofferson and family spend time as discontented americans partying and finding culture in there life. The relationship of the entire family is a telling portrait of people looking for something to cling to and realizing that they have each other. They grow; and we grow with them through the looking glass of the dark theather that takes us away and we want to stay!!!

Leelee Sobieski is my fav!
A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries is a beautiful depiction of the different stages of a family's life through the eyes of the daughter Charlotte-Ann (Channe). The movie takes place, for the most part in France, where the young girl first experiences gaining an adopted little brother. From there, during her early teenage years she meets a character named Francis Fortescue who loves the opera and becomes Channe's best friend. The father (Chris Christopherson) is having heart trouble and decides to move the family back to the US. Both children handle this change in different ways, the adopted son (Billy) becomes a couch potato and antisocial. Channe reacts by starting to drink, have sex, etc... I won't spoil the ending but let me just say that this is a great traditional movie about how close a family be and how people can solve their problems by sticking together. I have to admit, however, the reason I gave this film such a high rating is because Leelee Sobieski who plays (Channe) is my favorite actress and she is awesome! The movie as a whole is also one of the best I've seen.

strong characters, somewhat sleepy story
I watched this movie for the second time (I think) last night with my husband and daughter. The R rating is somewhat extreme for this movie. Aside from Kris Kristofferson's characters rampant swearing, this movie could easily be rated PG-13 and then only for frank discussions about sex between the father and daughter. It could actually be considered a good "coming-of-age" movie for liberal-minded families, though even those who consider themselves liberal might disagree with the father's philosophy on life and his advice for his fifteen-year-old daughter. Of course, if you view the story and follow the plot, you might feel that he was compelled to be deliberate and forthright with her. Unlike many fathers, he takes the time to interact with his daughter and have heart-to-heart talks. This father also takes the time to cultivate his relationship with his wife. Bill and Marcella obviously have a very passionate relationship, but alcohol use is very prevalent as well. In any case, the movie is intriguing. I especially enjoyed the young seven-year-old Channe played by a beautiful young girl (I don't know her name). The scene in the treehouse with the young French actor is realistic enough to be disturbing and frightening. Channe's transition into adolescence (now portrayed by LeeLee Sobieski) is very believable. Her relationship with Francis, also an American, is so frustrating because both characters are so realistic. You feel the anguish that Channe experiences having a friend whom most young people would shun, and over time, Channe would choose to shun as well. Francis is one of those people whom you want to like because he's interesting to be around, but unfortunately, he's also so self-deprecating and self-absorbed and whiny that you can't help but dislike him at the same time. This relationship between Channe and the effeminate, opera-loving Francis might be enough to turn off many viewers.
Channe's adopted brother Billy remains an intriguing enigma throughout the movie and certainly his character could have been fleshed out more. What we gather is that he's sensitive and kind to Channe, but never seems to make friends. In France, we never see him even interact at school, or even grow into adolescence at home. If this is an autobiographical movie, then one could at times only wonder if Channe and her brother lead isolated lives within the family. There are moments of connectedness within her family that do dispel this, however. When Billy arrives with his family in the United States, he seems unhappy and out of place right from the start. There is the slightest hint that he might be quietly gay, and therefore somewhat repulsed by Francis' blatant personality. We experience a moment of unrequited connection between him and Channe's American boyfriend.
One could find so much to explore within this movie- the interracial relationship between Candida (their Spanish or Portuguese maid who, by the way, has a lovely, siren-like singing voice) and her black boyfriend, Candida's fear of commitment and total devotion to Channe, devotion that leaves her lacking the ability to create her own life. Barbra Hershey's portrayal of Marcella, a fun-loving wife and mother with no apparent career aspirations,who turns to alcohol to soften life in Paris as an American in the 60's where it's obvious she and her husband and friends often felt out of place. What's disquieting is that she experiences the same feeling of being an outcast initially when they move back to the United States.
Well worth viewing, though some like my husband might watch the movie and ultimately comment "What's the point?" (and rightfully so, since everyone is entitled to their own opinion). This is not entertainment for entertainment's sake. It is an exploration of relationships.

A Waste of Time
This movie is full of nonsense! One of the worse I have seen so far!

A Waste of Time
The movie is artful, I give it that. However, the critics must have been really drunk when they rated this movie. It is full of nonsense and is looooong winding. One of the worse movies I have ever seen. ... Read more