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Golden Bowl
Trimark // R // November 6, 2001
List Price: $24.98 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
For many, it will come as a suprise that they haven't heard of "The Golden Bowl". Directed by the famed team of Merchant/Ivory and starring such well-known names as Kate Beckinsale, Jeremy Northam, Nick Nolte and Uma Thurman, the film took a year to reach the screen and even then, only recieved a small theatrical release. Apparently, the filmmakers had some various disagreements with Miramax over the film's final cut/running time. After a fairly lengthy period of disagreement, the film ended up with Lion's Gate, who gave it a mild theatrical release before sending it off to video.
While this certainly is by no means the strongest effort from the directing/producing team, the film is not without some positive elements and actually found a moderate audience when it was released. The film stars Nick Nolte as Adam Verver, a rich American who is travelling through Europe with daughter Maggie (Kate Beckinsale), buying up various items and then, seeking out a husband for his daughter. She believes that she's found a suitable one in Prince Amerigo (Jeremy Northam), but there's a problem - the prince has been having a romance with Charlotte Stant (Uma Thurman), who knows Maggie, as well. Meanwhile, Maggie tries to further her own gains from the situation, marrying Maggie's widowed father.
Of course, as with all films similar to this one, characters eventually find out what's going on and feelings are hurt. All of this revolves, in this case, around a "Golden Bowl", which has a minor flaw that has a very minor flaw. Of course, the bowl can be compared to the relationships featured in the film, which look fine, but have flaws when further examined. This sort of symbolism is a bit heavy, but the performances are subtle and strong enough to engage, especially Thurman and, to a lesser extent, Nolte, Northam and Beckinsale. Beckinsale is working with a small and somewhat thankless role - she really doesn't have terrific chemistry with Northam, either - reportedly, the two really didn't get along well and it sort of shows in the final film. I simply found it rather difficult to continue caring about many of these characters.
Overall, "Golden Bowl" remains one of the lesser Merchant/Ivory pictures. Though certainly not bad, the film moves somewhat slowly, the performances are mixed and the "symbolism" is occasionally a bit much. The production itself looks splendid, as per usual - beautiful cinematography, great sets, great costumes, even great set decoration. Unfortunately, the film's beauty doesn't quite make up for plot and characters that are only mildly engaging.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Golden Bowl" is presented by Trimark in 2.35:1 non-anamorphic widescreen. While I've previously been somewhat mild in regards to Trimark's continued non-anamorphic presentations, I've begun to get more and more irritated with their presentations. Although they are a smaller studio, the video quality of their releases still lags noticably behind their compeition. Although they came somewhat closer with the recent "Songcatcher", "Golden Bowl" displays many of the flaws that their prior releases have. Sharpness and detail is not entirely lackluster, but it does seem somewhat inconsistent, as some scenes appeared more well-defined than others. The picture appeared slightly dark at times, as well.
Unfortunately, minor concerns about softness were the smallest concern that I found with the picture. Edge enhancement is mostly absent from the image, but occasionally appeared in a mild enough amount to become rather irritating. Print flaws also were occasionally visible, as some specks and a mark or two were seen. Also, I noticed a slight trace or two of pixelation.
Colors generally look fine, but unexceptional. They looked a little dark and subdued, not looking smeared, but not looking remarkable, either. Flesh tones generally looked natural and accurate. Given the fact that Tony Pierce-Roberts provided beautiful cinematography for this picture, the only average looking (and non-anamorphic) transfer remains a dissapointment.
SOUND: "Golden Bowl" is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1, but there's little going on outside the film's dialogue and score, both of which largely reside in the front speakers. Rarely does the score venture into the surrounds and the surrounds don't even pick up some slight ambient sounds during the outdoor sequences. Audio quality seemed fine, as the score came through clearly and dialogue, although occasionally a tiny bit on the rough side, sounded crisp and natural.
MENUS:: Menus are moderately attractive, with nicely done film-themed animation.
EXTRAS:: This title was originally announced as having a "production commentary", leading one to believe that Merchant/Ivory would be on the track, as they've recorded a superb commentary for "Remains of the Day", which is also released on DVD this week. Unfortunately, that commentary is nowhere to be found on the disc itself. Whether or not the commentary was even recorded, or whether the two said too much about what happened with the film at Miramax, I'll never know. It's just a bummer that the only feature on the disc is a trailer.
Final Thoughts: "The Golden Bowl" is a beautiful looking picture, but the film is only mixed where it counts - performances, screenplay, pacing. Trimark's DVD is a dissapointment, not only hardly delivering any extras, but only presenting the film with mediocre image quality and decent audio. A light rental recommendation.
For many, it will come as a suprise that they haven't heard of "The Golden Bowl". Directed by the famed team of Merchant/Ivory and starring such well-known names as Kate Beckinsale, Jeremy Northam, Nick Nolte and Uma Thurman, the film took a year to reach the screen and even then, only recieved a small theatrical release. Apparently, the filmmakers had some various disagreements with Miramax over the film's final cut/running time. After a fairly lengthy period of disagreement, the film ended up with Lion's Gate, who gave it a mild theatrical release before sending it off to video.
While this certainly is by no means the strongest effort from the directing/producing team, the film is not without some positive elements and actually found a moderate audience when it was released. The film stars Nick Nolte as Adam Verver, a rich American who is travelling through Europe with daughter Maggie (Kate Beckinsale), buying up various items and then, seeking out a husband for his daughter. She believes that she's found a suitable one in Prince Amerigo (Jeremy Northam), but there's a problem - the prince has been having a romance with Charlotte Stant (Uma Thurman), who knows Maggie, as well. Meanwhile, Maggie tries to further her own gains from the situation, marrying Maggie's widowed father.
Of course, as with all films similar to this one, characters eventually find out what's going on and feelings are hurt. All of this revolves, in this case, around a "Golden Bowl", which has a minor flaw that has a very minor flaw. Of course, the bowl can be compared to the relationships featured in the film, which look fine, but have flaws when further examined. This sort of symbolism is a bit heavy, but the performances are subtle and strong enough to engage, especially Thurman and, to a lesser extent, Nolte, Northam and Beckinsale. Beckinsale is working with a small and somewhat thankless role - she really doesn't have terrific chemistry with Northam, either - reportedly, the two really didn't get along well and it sort of shows in the final film. I simply found it rather difficult to continue caring about many of these characters.
Overall, "Golden Bowl" remains one of the lesser Merchant/Ivory pictures. Though certainly not bad, the film moves somewhat slowly, the performances are mixed and the "symbolism" is occasionally a bit much. The production itself looks splendid, as per usual - beautiful cinematography, great sets, great costumes, even great set decoration. Unfortunately, the film's beauty doesn't quite make up for plot and characters that are only mildly engaging.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Golden Bowl" is presented by Trimark in 2.35:1 non-anamorphic widescreen. While I've previously been somewhat mild in regards to Trimark's continued non-anamorphic presentations, I've begun to get more and more irritated with their presentations. Although they are a smaller studio, the video quality of their releases still lags noticably behind their compeition. Although they came somewhat closer with the recent "Songcatcher", "Golden Bowl" displays many of the flaws that their prior releases have. Sharpness and detail is not entirely lackluster, but it does seem somewhat inconsistent, as some scenes appeared more well-defined than others. The picture appeared slightly dark at times, as well.
Unfortunately, minor concerns about softness were the smallest concern that I found with the picture. Edge enhancement is mostly absent from the image, but occasionally appeared in a mild enough amount to become rather irritating. Print flaws also were occasionally visible, as some specks and a mark or two were seen. Also, I noticed a slight trace or two of pixelation.
Colors generally look fine, but unexceptional. They looked a little dark and subdued, not looking smeared, but not looking remarkable, either. Flesh tones generally looked natural and accurate. Given the fact that Tony Pierce-Roberts provided beautiful cinematography for this picture, the only average looking (and non-anamorphic) transfer remains a dissapointment.
SOUND: "Golden Bowl" is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1, but there's little going on outside the film's dialogue and score, both of which largely reside in the front speakers. Rarely does the score venture into the surrounds and the surrounds don't even pick up some slight ambient sounds during the outdoor sequences. Audio quality seemed fine, as the score came through clearly and dialogue, although occasionally a tiny bit on the rough side, sounded crisp and natural.
MENUS:: Menus are moderately attractive, with nicely done film-themed animation.
EXTRAS:: This title was originally announced as having a "production commentary", leading one to believe that Merchant/Ivory would be on the track, as they've recorded a superb commentary for "Remains of the Day", which is also released on DVD this week. Unfortunately, that commentary is nowhere to be found on the disc itself. Whether or not the commentary was even recorded, or whether the two said too much about what happened with the film at Miramax, I'll never know. It's just a bummer that the only feature on the disc is a trailer.
Final Thoughts: "The Golden Bowl" is a beautiful looking picture, but the film is only mixed where it counts - performances, screenplay, pacing. Trimark's DVD is a dissapointment, not only hardly delivering any extras, but only presenting the film with mediocre image quality and decent audio. A light rental recommendation.
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