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The Portrait of a Lady


THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY (1996)

After The Piano, Jane Campion could've had it easy.  She could've become an awards-bait director, returning to the red carpet every couple years with a new, sure-to-please bit of high-minded drama.  And maybe that's what it looked like she was doing when it was revealed that her next film was an adaptation of Henry James' Portrait of a Lady.  That was a bit of a trick, though, because this movie is executed with hardly a trace of Merchant Ivory-ness*.  It is bizarre, modern and consistently unexpected.  In other words, it is a Jane Campion film.  

*For the record, Merchant Ivory have produced at least one masterpiece (The Remains of the Day) and a couple other very good films.  But they also made The Golden Bowl.
 

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