A social-climbing young woman gains a foothold in the late Victorian upper crust by virtue of her wealthy and cultured aunt's social connections, but finds marriage to her true love, a poor hack journalist, incompatible with her new station. She cooks up a plan to use her lover to bilk a guileless and fabulously wealthy American woman of her considerable fortune, but putting the scheme into action sparks painful conflicting emotions. A sleek adaptation of the eponymous Henry James novel, with the source material's bitterness tempered by a more sympathetic characterization of its heroine.
Academy Award nominations: 4, including Best Actress--Helena Bonham Carter; Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Costume Design, and Best Cinematography.
Widescreen DVD Special Features:
-Region 1 Encoding
-"Passion & Romance: THE WINGS OF THE DOVE"
-Theatrical Trailer
-Dolby Surround
-2.35:1 Aspect Ratio
-Keep Case
Distributor Notes: The Wings Of The Dove
Highly acclaimed as one of the year's most outstanding movies, THE WINGS OF THE DOVE is a provocative tale of passion, temptation, and greed. Helena Bonham Carter (HOWARDS END) delivers a stunning, award-winning performance as Kate, a beautiful young society woman whose desire for a common journalist (Linus Roache) presents her with an impossible decision: leave him, or marry -- and face a life of poverty. Events take an unexpected twist, however, when Kate befriends a lonely young heiress (Alison Elliott) whose own tragic secret offers an irresistible ... but dangerous ... solution. Nominated for 4 Academy Awards(R), this intriguing story of forbidden love is a motion picture event you won't soon forget!
Source: Buena Vista Home Entertainment.
Director of Photography
Eduardo Serra: Director of Photography
Production Designer
John Beard: Production Designer, BRAZIL (1985), HACKERS (1995)
Story
Henry James: British Novelist, THE TURN OF THE SCREW
Costume Designer
Sandy Powell: Costume Designer
Review 1:
"...[A] dazzling stylistic achievement....Like James's novel, the film honors the mysterious process by which life is at once extinguished and renewed..."
Source: Movieline's Hollywood Life
pp.50-1 12/1997-01/1998
Review 2:
"...[A] skillful, graceful movie..."
Source: Sight and Sound
p.55-6 01/01/1998
Review 3:
"...[An] exquisitely mounted romantic gem..." -- 3 1/2 out of 4
Source: USA Today
p.8D 11/07/1997
Review 4:
"...Ravishing...[and] impassioned..." -- Rating: B+
Source: Entertainment Weekly
p.82 06/19/1998
Review 5:
"...Spellbinding....This magnificent film conveys an intimation of what values count the most, of what really matters....Intelligent and sympathetic..."
Source: New York Times
p.E18 10/15/1997
Review 6:
"...This story has a life and logic of its own..."
Source: Chicago Sun-Times
p.47 10/15/1997