Wide Sargasso Sea [Import]

John Duigan, who aggressively makes indie films, got the most notoriety of his career out of his adaptation of Jean Rhys' prequel to Jane Eyre. It's a very pretty thing, to be sure, but really-how much can you expect of any film made after the mid-eighties that plays up the casting of Michael York?

Let's face it, the main reason to watch Wide Sargasso Sea is that Antioniette (Karina Lombard, whose biggest role since has been in Kull the Conqueror) and Amelie (Rowena King, most recently seen in Proof of Life), who are battling for the affections of Antoinette's husband Edward (Nathaniel Parker, whose days are occupied making the Inspector Lynley mysteries presently), spend a whole lot of their screen time unclothed. (One wishes the same could be said of Naomi Watts, who has a small part here, but one can't have everything.) The story itself is about as riveting as... well, let's put it this way. It's a prequel to Jane Eyre. They share a certain leisure of plot.

Once Michael York's scenery-chewing is out of the way (he plays Antoinette's father, and is only seen in the scenes where she's young), the film settles down into a nice, quiet lull for the rest of its length. The scenery is beautiful, the bodies are beautiful, it's like Winged Migration with nudity and an attempt at a storyline. ** 

What makes this film work is the progression of events; madness as depicted by tangleweed, temperature, voodoo/black magic, lust, etc. makes for a tantalizing feature, but none of it would work if the acting wasn't up to par.

Having read "Jane Eyre" a long time ago, I always thought it would be a great idea to create a story based on Rochester's psychotic wife, and how she got that way.

Steamy, superb drama for those of you who like a little subversion in your lives...