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The EuropeansRating:
Release Date: 19 August, 2003 Retail Price: $19.95 OUR Price: $17.99 You SAVE: $1.96! Cast: Complete Cast (5 total) |
The Europeans Reviews
Boring
I found this movie a waste of time. It really was a long 90 minutes. I suppose if I had liked or even known the actors I might have found some enjoyment in it, but I only knew the one and she is not one of my favorites. The music was very nice, with old hymns used in the score and played on period instruments. This movie really put me to sleep. I found the script dull and lifeless. I do love period pieces, but this one was sorely lacking compared to the BBC productions. I would recommend that you borrow this from your library before buying it (try an inter-library loan if your library doesn't have it). I would hate to see someone spend over $20 on this and find that it was a waste of time to watch it.
"They don't get the pleasure out of life that they might."
When "the Europeans" arrive unexpectedly to stay at the New England home of their strait-laced cousins, the Wentworth family, the conflicts between European and American values, so often highlighted in the novels of Henry James, are quickly established in this 1979 Merchant-Ivory film. Screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala stays close to the tone, themes, and action of the James novel as she brings to life a strict and pious New England family which is suddenly exposed to a whole new way of life. Felix Young (Tim Woodward), a charming and energetic European artist/actor/traveler, without prospects in Europe, has accompanied his sister Eugenia, Baroness of Munster (Lee Remick), to America while her marriage is being dissolved. Here, where no one knows them, Eugenia believes that "natural relations," as opposed to the "artificial relations" of Europe will prevail.
Young Gertrude Wentworth (Lisa Eichhorn), always the most iconoclastic member of the family, is immediately smitten by Felix, finding him a welcome relief from the earnest but stuffy Rev. Brand (Norman Snow), who has been courting her. While Felix and Gertrude are discovering each other, Eugenia works her wiles on the Wentworth men, focusing both on Clifford (Tim Choate), the young son and Wentworth heir-to-be, and on neighbor Robert Acton (Robin Ellis), flirting and awakening them to new and exciting possibilities.
The late autumn foliage sets off the Federal Period homes (the exterior being the Barrett House in New Ipswich, NH, and some interiors from the Salem [MA] National Heritage site), all perfectly maintained and appropriately furnished, which serve as the setting for the action, and the cinematography (Larry Pizer), shows off naturally beautiful outdoor scenes (some of which take place in an elegant antique gazebo), along with dreadful rains and mud. The original score by Richard Robbins is one of the film's highlights--romantic without being cloying, and often haunting. Jill Eichhorn, as Gertrude, is charming as she represses her sense of fun at the beginning and then lets go, under the influence of the captivating Felix.
Well photographed, winningly scored, and beautiful to look at, this early Merchant-Ivory film is a lovely entertainment, but it does have two weaknesses. The father (as played by Wesley Addy) seems unrealistically puritanical, especially for a man who reads the transcendentalists, lives only seven miles from Boston, and is a Unitarian (not a dogmatic denomination). And Lee Remick, as Eugenia, is too mature for the role. In her mid-forties when she makes this film, her serious flirting with twenty-ish Clifford does not ring true, nor does her calculating manipulation of the family. Lacking the depth of the novel, the film is a wry and often humorous look at mid-19th century life. Mary Whipple
More Customer Reviews (5 total)
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