Review of The Europeans

The obvious issue that many readers have with Henry James' books is that his characters' motives and desires often seem unclear, despite the extensive dialogues. But this is not the late James where a dozen pages of exposition of thought and motive precede each spoken sentence. The Europeans is only a short, simple book faithfully recreated here. A fine adaptation. In the past, I'd say Henry James has been excellently served by directors such as James Cellan-Jones (The golden bowl, The Ambassadors), Jack Clayton (The innocents), William Wyler (The heiress) and of course James Ivory. Yet neither Truffaut (The green room), nor Rivette (Celine et Julie), or Bogdanovich (Daisy Miller) could keep up with the Jameses. (Not to mention the disastrous version of Portrait of a Lady with Nicole Kidman.) While not on the level of Remains of the day and other Merchant/Ivory films at their peak, this film is where the partnership truly took off in presenting Masterpiece-Theatre-like period films. The visuals are untouchable. The cinematography, wonderful as it captures the New England autumn. The casting, very good: Lee Remick, Faye Dunaway, Jane Fonda, Wesley Addy, Tim Woodward, Tim Choate.