Film

Washington Square (1997)

Director: Agnieszka Holland

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

When Wyler made The Heiress, he was, of course, filming a Broadway adaptation of Henry James's novel. This version goes back to the original book, jettisoning the stage-related business, and retrieving details and scenes lost in the translation from page to stage. Other 'corrections' include a greater teasing of the audience concerning the affections of the heroine's suitor: is anything stirring there besides opportunism? And Wyler's ending - a melodramatically decisive balancing of the moral books - here becomes a faithful transcription of the low key but equally deadly last interview described by James. But one does miss the severe monochrome of 1949, amid all this colour, all this brightness.

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