A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

Henry James's novels are available for film adaptation, dramatic novels. As it is known, the most dominant feature of his novels is the success in using the point of view. There are 3 reflective consciousness whom are benefited from the point of view. These are Kate,Merton and Milly. Use of point of view in novel is linguistic. This work is more difficult in the cinema. Because now words there is no written language, there is a camera. In this film, however, the hero's point of view is shown successfully. Milly is "pigeon" as metaphor. When watching the movie You'll see why the dove is Milly. I think this film is "underrated". Dramatic and period film lovers watch.

I just found out this movie after 17 years absence. It's beautifully done. I don't know how I missed it before. I saw "The Making of a Lady" recently and wondered who Linus Roache is then found this movie. I like the way he did the romantic scenes which were contained and passionate at same time. What made a memorable love story are those obstructive surroundings i.e. social casts, financial situations, different love interests and above all, forbidden emotional attachment. I think this movie got them all. I might not have the same feeling about it if I would have seen it 17 years ago in my thirty. The reason would be the growing experiences in my life. I like those actors and actresses from other English speaking countries. They have more training in the classical theaters which usually come in handy when they portray those characters in the classical literacy. It's a memorable movie if you haven't seen it, you won't regret it.

Great beauty, great visuals and also very good drama and a positive love triangle. A triangle that says a lot about manner, honor, the relativity of being right and wrong. It's about how conflicts, inner conflicts, can be. How can impact you.The life is complicate. The established rules for right and wrong are far from to be true. It also talk how people change. How the man who doesn't love the girl, finally couldn't not love her. When you go through new feeling experience you'll change. You will not comes back. There is no restore point in feeling.This film, depicts how complicated human drama is. How complex its emotions is and How dynamic he/she is. I think this film enlighten the viewer to take a deeper look to complex human interactions and how simple are our religion and established norms and stereotypes.

I'll confess that this is not entirely my favorite genre. I like some British costume drama's, as long as they have some quirkiness added to it, such as for instance is the case in such movies as "Barry Lyndon", "The Draughtsman's Contract" and "Dangerous Liaisons". This movie is more in the style and mind of a Jane Austen novel, which is just not the type of movie for which I sit down and enjoy watching.But nevertheless that doesn't mean I'm totally blind for the quality this movie got made in. Its Oscar nominations; Best Actress in a Leading Role, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium, are all certainly ones I can agree with. Add to that the costume design and you have the 5 elements that make this a good and certainly perfectly watchable movie.What I like about the story is that it features an original love-triangle. It's not the type of love-triangle you would just expect and it also makes the movie as a whole original not entirely predictable to watch. It's well layered and executed in the movie. It however perhaps too long for the movie to take shape. Basically the first halve of the movie totally couldn't interest me and it was standard, slow and just not that interesting. However the second halve, from the moment on the movie gets set in Venice, really made up a lot for me.The movie is set at the early 20th century, which is not the most usual time period for this type of movie. However, if you would had told me the movie was set in the late 19th century I would had also believed it. Basically it are only the cars and phones that give away that this movie is set in the 20th century. The rest of the movie just feels and looks the same as any other costume drama set during a more common earlier time period. The sets and costumes for this time period are just fantastic. Not just for the Venice sequences but also really for the sequences set in London.The movie is also not as heavy handed as it might sound and as you perhaps would expect. The movie mostly remains on the shallow safe side, until heads toward its very ending. It often makes this a bland and rather formulaic movie to watch, despite its hospitality. I think you can blame director Iain Softley, who directed his movie rather static and standard. Or perhaps blame the '90's, which just wasn't the most style-full period for movie making.A good and certainly watchable movie, that perhaps should had been a bit more bold and edgier in its execution.7/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/