A Handful Of Dust (1988)

Based on a novel by Evelyn Waugh (BRIDESHEAD REVISITED), this film starts out seemingly like yet another Masterpiece theatre effort focusing on the effete and bland English upper classes. A bored and restless wife (Kristin Scott Thomas) married to a wealthy aristocrat (James Wilby) begins an affair with a shiftless n'er do well (Rupert Graves). We think we know where it's going but then, suddenly, tragedy strikes and everything goes topsy turvy. The first portion of the film is devoted to Scott Thomas's character and the second half focuses on Wilby's character. None of them are very likable so it takes a lot for the film to drag out our empathy but eventually it does. Director Charles Sturridge and co-scripters Derek Granger and Tim Sullivan don't eliminate Waugh's satire entirely but they severely neuter much of it. Two supporting turns are impressive, Anjelica Huston as a family friend's enigmatic mistress and Alec Guinness as Wilby's diabolical guardian angel. The delicate score is by George Fenton. With Judi Dench and Stephen Fry.