The Wings of the Dove

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Ben D @RT87620530 01/30/2025 This is a much better story — and assumedly, novel — than the film we are given. Kate (Helena Bonham Carter) loves Merton (Linus Roache), who is a journalist without much money. Raised by her aunt (Charlotte Rampling), she is set to marry a man of means, Lord Mark (Alex Jennings). Milly (Alison Elliot) is a young, rich American who is also terminally ill. If Kate and make Milly fall in love with Merton — who will feign loving her in return — it may so happen that Milly will bequeath Merton with her fortune upon her death and Kate can therefore marry Merton, made newly of means, thereby having her cake and eating it too. Set to a backdrop (mostly) of Venice, this is quite the devious and romantic early 20th-century story. And yet, I cared for little of the characters. Their “love” felt superficially and without sacrifice. Milly is endearing and lovely and the way her destiny is used to the ends of the other characters makes you not want to root for any of them. There is, perhaps, a predictable twist that may be one of the larger misfires I’ve witnessed in cinema. I had assumed HBC had received her Oscar nom for Best Supporting Actress and even then, I would have been surprised given that she goes missing for large stretches of the 102-minute runtime, but she was actually given a Best Actress nom, which is just farcical. This feels like a script that could be remade with more power and gravitas. See more Barry M @RT78800723 01/02/2021 A deep exploration of the heart and how it will have its way no matter what. See more steve d @RT35616104 07/07/2020 I hated the characters and thus the film. See more 11/10/2017 ???????????????? ??? ?????????????? ?????????? ?????? ???????????????? See more 12/20/2016 A devastating look at fine line that separates money and love and how it could push someone to the very edge of decimation. See more 09/03/2015 The Wings of the Dove is a perfect example of a film that would've been better served with a less conventional approach that focused on delineating the emotional turmoil these characters put themselves through instead of lavishing in its period trappings. As it stands, it's mostly well-done, although it doesn't get truly compelling until the killer ending that prioritizes the character instead of the visual, pushing its performers to vulnerable territory that yields much more rewarding results. See more Read all reviews

The Wings of the Dove

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