The White Countess of Merchant-Ivory's film The White Countess is a nightclub. It is also a woman. Both are located in Shanghai int he days just prior to the Japanese invasion, and both are the obsession of Todd Jackson - a former U.S. diplomat who was blinded in a terrorist bombing. Jackson (as played by Ralph Fiennes) dreams of owning the perfect bar, a place where he can escape from the violence and chaos raging in the world. The Countess Sofia Belinskaya (Natasha Richardson) has no more dreams. What she has is her work as a taxi dancer, her daughter, and her egregiously ungrateful in-laws. When Jackson meets the countess, all of the pieces of his dream fall into place, and he creates The White Countess - the perfect bar - with the Countess Belinskaya as its centerpiece. Within this exotic - dare I say romantic - mise en scéne, the film follows these two damaged, world-weary souls as they stumble warily towards each other. Unfortunately, the film stumbles a bit too. Looking a little like Casablanca, Empire of the Sun and Doctor Zhivago all rolled into one, The White Countess can't quite seem to find its footing. Is it a love story set against the backdrop of war with undercurrents of political intrigue? Or is it a war movie set against a backdrop of political intrigue with a love story subplot? Or...well, you get the picture. Don't get me wrong - the film is a visual feast. After all, it is Merchant-Ivory. The acting is superb all around, and the soundtrack is real Oscar-nomination stuff. It's just that all of those wonderful pieces don't quite come together this time. If you're a Merchant-Ivory fan, rent this film, watch it, soak in the images and sounds, drool over Fiennes and Richardson, but try not to pay too much attention to the movie stumbling around behind it all.
The White Countess is rated PG-13.
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