The Portrait Of A Lady (1996)

A young American girl (Nicole Kidman) visiting her maternal Aunt (Shelley Winters) and her husband (John Gielgud) in England receives a large fortune upon her Uncle's death. She travels to Rome where she falls under the spell of an American expatriate (John Malkovich) and enters a marriage that soon turns into a private hell. Based on the 1881 novel by Henry James and directed by Jane Campion (THE PIANO). It works in bits and pieces but overall, it's not successful. We're never quite sure just why Kidman remains in the hellish marriage as her character is anything but weak nor is it clear what the motivations of Barbara Hershey (in an Oscar nominated performance) are in bringing the couple together. The acting is good (except for Christian Bale) but the screenplay by Laura Jones while literate is frustrating in its inability to make sense of the whole thing and the film doesn't so much end as sputter along for about 15 minutes and then just stop! Granted, James' novel was itself often ambiguous regarding Isabel's (Kidman's character) motives but there's enough good stuff here that its failings stand out prominently. But I must single Malkovich's performance which is excellent. He manages to be both repellent and compelling at the same time. With Viggo Mortensen, Shelley Duvall, Martin Donovan, Mary Louise Parker, Valentina Cervi and Richard E. Grant.