Linkshoch Wonderful Movie

AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Beystiman It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

irish23 I read "Turn of the Screw" over 20 years ago but I recall that it struck me as dead boring. I watched this adaptation in the hopes the story would grow on me over the years. Alas! The film has lovely sets, costumes, and music. It occasionally has decent acting. But overall it can be watched on fast-forward most of the time and not lose anything. Perhaps it relies on the idea that viewers will be so familiar with James' story that dialogue and even (gasp) exposition might be necessary to flesh things out a bit. I learned more from reading the viewer comments here than I did from watching the film.Poor Jodhi May must have drunk gallons of water during filming, since she seems to spend about 50% of her on screen time with eyes bulging and her mouth hanging open. Her descent into madness is believably gradual, but her Victorian ideas of purity and evil seem to leap from nowhere. Her character desperately needed context in order to be more clear.I saw "The Innocents" with Deborah Kerr a few years ago and it was genuinely creepy. This Masterpiece Theatre production lacked Innocents' clarity of narrative and commitment to interpretation. Instead, it wandered through far too many long shots, pan shots, and crane shots across an English country estate. And the ending was completely anti-climactic, with May's emotional level the same as it had been throughout most of the rest of the film, when instead it should have been leaping off the screen.Three stars for pretty pictures and occasional acting; minus seven stars for poor script, vision, and direction.

Sklaeren The turn of the screw is one of Henry James' easiest novel to read, and also one of the scariest books ever, for its sense of suspense and that way to play with your nerve. And it has very cinematographic writing, when reading the most intense parts of the book you can't help but seeing it, it just scream for a movie adaptation. Well this film is as a whole quite good, very faithful to James' text. It doesn't reduce it to just another ghost story, but respects that the characters' psychology and neurosis really are the heart of it. The cast is very good, especially Jodhi May. But that little Miles boy couldn't ever be described as an angel, he's just evilly annoying and obnoxious from the start. Colin Firth, as "the master", has approximately 3 minutes of screen time to settle his dashing, charming gentleman of a character, make the governess so in love with him that she'll accept the weird job condition (and may even explain her later neurotic state), and make such an impression that has to last 'til the movie end. And he does that just well, because he's sooooo adorable. My only disappointment is the lack of general atmosphere, it's mostly too distant, and scenes like the first appearance of each ghost don't produce the shock expected (well, if you've read the book...). All of other "ghosts scene" is quite effective, if not very subtle (think dramatic music). The very end is also a lot more explicit than in the book.

atlantean54 A fairly faithful adaptation of Henry James' story of malevolent innocence and evil. Although some scenes lagged in appropriately constructing the atmospheric richness present in the novella - the film adaptation stays true to the building of character, as the secrets of Bly become apparent. Jodhi May certainly delivers an unrelenting, powerful and convincing performance as the disordered governess. She made this film worth watching. A brilliant acting talent. The rest of the cast give an average performance - which was quite a let down on my part. Nevertheless, a film to look out for if your a fan of James' work and appreciate period drama. Or in this case a good old fashioned thriller.Film Rating: 7/10

sydneypatrick The 1961 Deborah Kerr vehicle, "The Innocents" went for thesupernatural chills and is likely the best adaptation ever (at leastit's likely the most popular), but this straight-forward rendition ofHenry James' best known short novel is probably the closest to theauthor's intentions to date. By sticking with psychological terrorrather than creepy SFX, this production succeeds in portraying ayoung woman's descent into madness that too often takes abackseat to the realm of ghost story in lesser productions. JodhiMay's wide-eyed performance is nothing short of brilliant. PamFerris and Colin Firth round out the strong supporting cast(although Mr. Firth is seen only in the first five minutes of film andnothing more, so you Pride & Prejudice fans beware!).