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The Wings of the Dove (1997) 7.2
Ratings:
7.2/10 from 8,503 users
Metascore: 73/100
Reviews: 68 user | 72 critic | 18 from Metacritic.com An impoverished woman who has been forced to choose between a privileged life with her wealthy aunt and her journalist lover, befriends an American heiress. When she discovers the heiress is attracted to her own lover and is dying, she sees a chance to have both the privileged life she cannot give up and the lover she cannot live without. Director:Iain Softley |
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Cast
| Complete credited cast: | |||
| Helena Bonham Carter | ... | ||
| Linus Roache | ... | ||
| Alex Jennings | ... | ||
| Charlotte Rampling | ... | ||
| Ben Miles | ... | ||
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Philip Wright | ... |
Journalist 2
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| Michael Gambon | ... |
Kate's Father
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Alexander John | ... |
Butler
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| Alison Elliott | ... | ||
| Elizabeth McGovern | ... | ||
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Shirley Chantrell | ... |
Opium Den Lady
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Diana Kent | ... |
Merton's Party Companion
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Georgio Serafini | ... | |
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Rachele Crisafulli | ... |
Concierge
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Plot Summary
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Plot Synopsis
Storyline
Kate Croy's mother was born to wealth and privilege, but she threw it all away to marry Kate's father, a penniless opium addict who admits to having stolen from his wife. After her mother's death, Kate is offered an opportunity to return to the life her mother gave up. There is a condition, however: Kate must sever all of her old ties, not only to her father, but also to her lover, the muck-raking journalist Merton Densher, whom she has promised marriage. Kate reluctantly agrees to this, and in the meantime becomes friendly with "the world's richest orphan," Millie Theale, an American making the Grand Tour. Desperate to see Kate, Merton crashes a party that she and Millie are attending, and Millie is attracted to him. When Kate learns that Millie is dying, she comes up with a plan to have her cake and eat it too...but all does not go as planned. Written by RK
Taglines:
A couple with everything but money. An heiress with everything but love. A temptation no one could resist.Parents Guide:
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Details
Language:
EnglishRelease Date:
7 November 1997 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
Las alas de la paloma See more »Box Office
Opening Weekend:
$183,610 (USA) (7 November 1997)Gross:
DEM 216,514 (Germany) (24 July 1998)Company Credits
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Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
Dolby DigitalColor:
Color (Rankcolor)Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1
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This was not one of my favorite novels when I read it (for James, I prefer THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY), but this is a very good film. Director Iain Softley and writer Hossein Amini made the smart decision to move this up in time to the 1910's, which enables them to get to the passions more than James does here. Softley also makes this darker than most literary adaptations, in look and in tone, without suffocating it, and he avoids making this a film about production design rather than about a story. He does labor a bit in trying for tragedy, but that's only a quibble.
Alison Elliot, a good actress (I liked her in THE UNDERNEATH and the otherwise flawed THE SPITFIRE GRILL), takes awhile to warm up as Millie, because she seems a little too modern, but she avoids easy sentiment as the dying heiress. Linus Roache, who I thought was a little awkward in PRIEST, here avoids the trap of being the third wheel, making us understand what both Millie and Kate see in Merton. But the real triumph here is Helena Bonham Carter, who gave the best performance of the year. One character says of Kate, "There's something going on behind those beautiful lashes," and that can usually be said of the characters Carter plays, but sometimes she's overly detached. Here, she's completely engaged, and she pulls off the difficult trick of never losing our sympathies even when her character does something despicable. And where James sort of made Kate just manipulative, Carter makes her human and longing.