Wide Sargasso Sea

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Wide Sargasso Sea

R

1993

1h 36m

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

65%

Tomatometer

20 Reviews

38%

Popcornmeter

1,000+ Ratings

In the wake of Jamaican emancipation, French colonist Annette Cosway (Rachel Ward) falls into poverty and marries racist Englishman Paul Mason (Michael York). But when Annette's young son dies in a fire started by former slaves, Mason flees to England, leaving his grief-stricken wife and her Creole daughter Antoinette (Karina Lombard) behind. Soon Antoinette learns she must marry to claim her inheritance and sets her sights on Rochester (Nathaniel Parker), an Englishman eerily similar to Mason.

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Lawrence Cohn

Variety

03/26/2009

An uneven but ultimately engrossing feature.

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Time Out

01/26/2006

A strange, dark, muddled dream of a movie, occasionally risible but rarely boring.

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Vincent Canby

New York Times

05/20/2003

Although Wide Sargasso Sea is a most poetic film, Mr. Duigan uses his poetic effects sparingly.

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Brian D. Johnson

Maclean's Magazine

10/11/2019

Lombard is weak in the central role. Although her character's mind is supposed to be at stake, it is hard to find much evidence of it behind her one-note performance.

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Mark Amory

The Spectator

07/24/2018

The film dies too, because we do not care about or understand Antoinette.

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Malcolm L. Johnson

Hartford Courant

05/31/2018

At its heart, Wide Sargasso Sea tells of the ruination of a marriage -- by the past, by the time, by the fears of a man and desperation of a woman. Yet Duigan also presents a searing vision of the effects of colonialism.

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FF S

@syr75481 02/20/2024

I enjoyed the movie more than I expected to. While the acting was not outstanding, the film captured the Caribbean extraordinarily well. And the story is a wonderful bookend to Jane Eyre. I am glad that I saw it.

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03/27/2016

A sad and tragic story based on a character in Charlotte Bronte's novel Jane Eyre during mid-19th Century Jamaica.

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09/28/2015

This version was even more sad than the remake. What a horrible thing to be loved and then cast aside for no good reason. Rochester did Antoinette wrong, plain and simple. He took the light out of her eyes, he stole her very spirit. It was soul-crushing to watch the shell of a person he turned her into. A very sad movie indeed.

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02/12/2013

I was attracted to the movie as I recently learned about what and where the Sargasso Sea is. There is not much to learn watching this movie however. Well perhaps you learn not to be born in the mid 17th century, and to treat your slaves with a little compassion.

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06/27/2012

I saw this pretentious adaptation of John Rhys' novel years ago, and then caught it again on cable. What a waste of talent! The tropical setting supposedly mirrors the inner passions of the characters...Obvious, dreary, and heavy going from the word go...

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04/03/2012

I saw it again (5 years later or so) and it was ok

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John Duigan

Director

Karina Lombard

Antoinette Cosway

Nathaniel Parker

Edward Rochester

Rachel Ward

Annette Cosway

Michael York

Paul Mason

Martine Beswick

Aunt Cora

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Synopsis

In the wake of Jamaican emancipation, French colonist Annette Cosway (Rachel Ward) falls into poverty and marries racist Englishman Paul Mason (Michael York). But when Annette's young son dies in a fire started by former slaves, Mason flees to England, leaving his grief-stricken wife and her Creole daughter Antoinette (Karina Lombard) behind. Soon Antoinette learns she must marry to claim her inheritance and sets her sights on Rochester (Nathaniel Parker), an Englishman eerily similar to Mason.

Director: John Duigan
Producer: Jan Sharp
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 20, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $1.4M
Runtime: 1h 36m
Sound Mix: Surround