I enjoyed this adaptation of Henry James's gothic horror story with some reservations. Michelle Dockery and Dan Stevens of Downton Abby are respectively the Governess and the male spirit, Quint who lurks about a country mansion called BLY. It was great to see Corin Redgrave in the small role of the uncle. The problem is that I have taught this novel a number of times in first year University English. Knowing it as well as I do, makes me very critical of a few matters that didn't really please me. First of all, the children weren't totally up to snuff in their key roles. As good as Michelle Dockery is I have such a fixed idea of the Governess that I seem to want more from her. Dan Stevens in a new transformation of sorts, having slimmed down quite a bit since his Abby days, makes one cringe as Quint, the personification of all evil... that is if you take the story literally. You see Henry James wrote the novel in such a way that it can be interpreted in three different ways. The film throws the same problem at the viewer. It is up to the viewer to decipher the whole situation and come to his/her own conclusion as to the state of the truth. Turn of the Screw in this colour adaptation almost failed to create the ambiance of Bly, the mansion, the lakeside, the tower and a few other significant matters. For me the cinematography had to be B + W!
By the way, this is such a famous and great novella that English composer Benjamin Britten turned it into an opera some ten years before he died in the 70's. It retains the name of the novel, The Turn of the Screw, Musically Benjamin Britten poses the same dilemmas of the novel and film. TURN is an eerily terrifying Chamber Opera. It works horrifyingly well on the opera stage!
Now, to the past! THE INNOCENTS based on Turn of the Screw (1961) with Deborah Kerr in the role of the Governess and Sir Michael Redgrave as the uncle is the definitive film version for me. Even though Miss Kerr was a bit too old for the part of the Governess, she gives a multi-layered performance that has you stumped as to the reality of the horrendous situation. The B + W cinematography of this 1961 version is so masterfully used that every nook and corner of the mansion becomes the equivalent of another character. Jack Carter's lighting and Jack Clayton's direction are impeccable. YOU MUST SEE THIS 1961 MASTERPIECE!
This new adaptation from the BBC though good is simply not in the same ballpark, so to speak, as the 1961 Kerr rendition.
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