Stars: Uma Thurman, Jeremy Northam, Kate Beckinsale, Nick Nolte, Anjelica Huston, James Fox, Madeleine Potter, Peter Eyre

Director: James Ivory

Summary: THE GOLDEN BOWL is Merchant-Ivory's adaptation of the Henry James novel of romantic torment--the novel James named as his favorite. The title refers to a beautiful crystal bowl encrusted with gold, which conceals a single imperceptible flaw--a small crack. The bowl is a simple, effective metaphor for the seeming perfection of the relationships in the film. Some characters in THE GOLDEN BOWL see the hidden flaw, and keep their knowledge of its worthlessness to themselves. Others do not see the flaw, and live their lives feeling that they should be happy, not understanding the root of their unease. THE GOLDEN BOWL features excellent performances, particularly from Nick Nolte as the American billionaire Adam Verver, and Kate Beckinsale as Maggie, his devoted daughter. Maggie marries an Italian prince (Jeremy Northam) who has a secret past with her best friend (Uma Thurman). The film includes the lavishly precise production design expected of Merchant-Ivory works. But the dark emotional complexity of the source novel, combined with the filmmakers's aesthetically bold inclusion of archival footage from early 20th Century urban America, give the film an edge--a palpable sense of the underlying dread of industrialization in the New World.

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Henry James' novel The Golden Bowlis here adapted into one of the most beautiful films yet from the Merchant Ivory stable (and that's saying something given their penchant for fin de sièclesubject matter). But it was an unwieldy novel and as a film it's flawed just like the titular bowl. The action centres on Maggie, daughter of American millionaire Adam Verver, who is married to the impoverished Italian nobleman Amerigo, who had previously had a secret affair with the poor but scheming Charlotte. The square is completed when Charlotte marries the widowed Adam. Although Maggie (artlessly played by Kate Beckinsdale) begins the film as a complete innocent, it is ultimately she who takes tacit control of the tangled relationships.

Nick Nolte brings a patrician quality to the part of Adam, whose main obsession in life is collecting objects of beauty and value for a museum he's planning in the States. Jeremy Northam's Amerigo is convincing without being likeable. It is Charlotte, however, who is the centre around which everything else revolves and Uma Thurman relies too heavily on her own charms and not enough on strong characterisation. In the end, she is not sufficiently magnetic for her role to ring true.

On the DVD:The Golden Bowl's sumptuous settings are a glory to behold, and beautifully captured here. The inclusion of original film footage from early last century adds tremendously to the period flavour and the behind-the-scenes interviews and brief film of Merchant Ivory's past endeavours add to the appeal of the package, though there are effectively no subtitles or language options. --Harriet Smith

Aspect Ratio:	2.35 Wide Screen
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Merchant Ivory Anniversary Reel, Production Featurette
Year:	2000
Release Date:	June 15, 2006
Runtime:	130 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	B E D 888630
Keywords:	Golden, General, Wide, Screen, Bowl, Romantic, Drama
Genre:	Drama