A Handful of Dust
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Movie Reviews of A Handful of Dust
Movie Review: Typically British
Summary: 4 Stars
So, I'm a little late. I'm trying to find good British movies. American movies are terrible. This movie is well written, cast, acted, and produced. In short, Tony, the husband is a nut-case (albeit a nice one). Besides Brenda, he is in love with an old, really, really old house. Naturally, Brenda, the wife, gets bored, really bored. She would have to be because she finds her "fun" in another really boring, poor, younger,wimpy mama's boy. Old story told a million times. But from this point on, this story is really different. I enjoyed the twist. It's one that you could never guess. I liked the movie. It's understated as are most British films and I like that. I like their actors. For the most part, they are classically trained and it shows. I give it four stars because the British mumble a lot. That's the bad news. The good news is that you have to keep playing it over and over to figure out what the heck they said.Movie Review: Unusually Strong Cast for a TV Movie
Summary: 3 Stars
"A Handful of Dust," (1988), based on Evelyn Waugh's famous novel by the same name, a jazz-age satire, was made by London Weekend Television, which invested in an unusually strong cast for a television movie. Perhaps as a result of this, the film received theatrical distribution, by Miramax, in the United States.
The film stars James Wilby as Tony Last, so involved in trying to live a nineteenth century lifestyle, and keep his estate Hettam afloat, that he fatally fails to notice his wife Brenda (Kristin Scott Thomas) is bored silly. Rupert Graves appears as John Beaver, (he's what they used to call a bounder); Brenda mistakenly turns to him for solace and fun. (And, of course, by doing so, she gives London's bored silly smart set something to gossip about.) Dame Judi Dench plays Mrs. Beaver, John's opportunistic, shop-owning mother. Anjelica Huston appears as the helpful Mrs. Rattery; Stephen Fry as Brenda's callous brother. Alec Guinness turns in a bravura performance as Mr. Todd, a man you don't want ever to meet. But it can truthfully be said that each of the actors makes the most of his/her part.
The movie is beautifully filmed on location, in Brighton, East Sussex, and London, England. Carlton Towers, Selby, in the north of England, North Yorkshire to be precise, stands in for Hettam. "Dust" then moves on to what's supposed to be the Brazilian jungle, though it's actually filmed in Venezuela, around Angel Falls, the world's third highest. (Of course, we're to understand that this jungle is only slightly more bloodthirsty than that of London society.)
As is fairly well-known, movie and book are based, in part, on the breakup of Waugh's first marriage, and Waugh surely gets the last word on that (although the understanding is that Brenda's supposed to be stupid, as well as selfish, and Scott-Thomas is too smart, and observant, to be able to play stupid). Waugh then, it's said, was at a loss as to how to finish this work, so he combined it with a previously-published short story set in the Brazilian jungle: because of legalities, he was actually unable to use this ending when the book was published in the States, and had to come up with another.
"Dust" is handsomely filmed, and costumed, its cars and interiors are a treat, and it's got its author's flashes of mordant wit. The acting can't be faulted. But it's ultimately a downer, as is Waugh's book: these characters give us little to admire, and sure won't live happily ever after.
Movie Review: Superb cast - terrible tale
Summary: 3 Stars
Kristin Scott-Thomas heads the truly fine cast in this made-for- TV film of the novel of the same name. I have never seen Ms. Scott-Thomas give a performance that is less than brilliant and in this, her fine intelligence is matched by her great beauty. She is reason enough to sit through two hours of this dreadful story.
The other reason is the lush photography, so typical of British productions. And yes, I'm a sucker for the splendid old houses, and affluent lifestyle of the aristocracy in the period between the two World Wars.
The story is interesting up to a point. I kept wondering when the good husband was going to wake up and realize that his beloved wife was playing him like a Stradivarius. Actually Brenda seemed much too intelligent to throw away her beautiful life for the pretty-boy Beaver. Perhaps casting Scott-Thomas was a mistake for as talented as she is, she was not convincing as someone that stupid and vapid.
The story takes a very strange turn when the poor husband, who has lost not only his son but his wife, makes a snap decision to accompany a very dubious looking man on a trip to the Amazon.
I kept wondering how the author would tie these disparate elements together. Well, he didn't and that's the problem with this plot. I haven't read the novel so perhaps it was more plausible there. I read somewhere that the first part of the story is based on his own marriage and divorce and he simply didn't know how to end it. It doesn't work at all and to say that it is disappointing is a huge understatement.
I notived that several of the reviews mentioned the humour of the film. Perhaps there was some dark humour in the novel but I failed to see any of it in the film.
Still, the cast is stellar---where else do you find Judi Dench, Anjelica Huston, Kristen Scott-Thomas and Alec Guiness in one film? For that and the lush settings, I give the film three stars.
Movie Review: Unremittingly miserable
Summary: 3 Stars
The whole tone of this film is one of utter hopelessness - the characthers appear lost - there is absolutely no redemption to speak of. Its so long since I read the book, I cannot tell whether the film is faithful to the book. I would compare the film to the film of the "The Painted Veil", where there is redemption, the adultress wife grows and finds her redemption in the new fire of her love for her husband and this is echoed by his reciprocal forgiveness. So, even though that film ended ostensibly on a low note (the death of the husband), the redemption of the wife meant that hope had been enkindled. There is nothing like that here - it ends grimly as it begun grimly. Now the actng is fine and in terms of cinematopgraphy it is enjoyable but gloom is gloom.
Movie Review: Waugh should NEVER get the Merchant Ivory treatment
Summary: 1 Stars
Evelyn Waugh is one of the crankiest and funniest writers of the 20th century. This is a man who converted to Catholicism and defended his religion/personality by saying that if he hadn't been Catholic he would have been much much worse. Having just read Black Mischief I compared Evelyn Waugh to Wodehouse, but only if you change the ending of Wodehouse so that Jeeves kills Wooster and then runs afoul with a gang of cannibal Londoners. And this particular movie is based on one of Waugh's wickedest and most disjointed books. Actually, one should marvel at the hubris of the filmmaker that thought "well it begins with a comedy of manners, kills off a kid for laughs and then leaves the protagonist stranded and imprisoned in the middle of nowhere - this will make an awesome movie!!!" Sadly hubris does not lead to a rousing success (that would be chutzpah) and one feels like the filmmaker isn't even trying. Actually I doubt that the thought process was the one described. I think it was more along the lines of "well he wrote Brideshead Revisited and people love those wealthy Brits being stuffy movies." because this movie is the quintessential stuffy Brit movie.
And there's the problem. I never read Brideshead Revisited and I suspect that it's an honestly serious book - a meditation on faith and war and family bonds - because somehow every movie based on that book seems to be serious. Yet, every single other book by Waugh is a comedy - a twisted, dark and depressing comedy based on gallow's humor and a desperate struggle of humanity - but a comedy nonetheless. And moreso, it's the kind of comedy where you aren't really supposed to relate to the characters. Waugh's characters are the awful creeps from Absolutely Fabulous: Absolutely Everything or Curb Your Enthusiasm: The Complete Seventh Season who are self-involved and hilariously evil. They are not uptight Brits that inhabit the Merchant Ivory uptight Brit factory. So giving us a bunch of uptight Brits who take every phrase and word utterly seriously is a dance on Waugh's corpse.
And even if you don't understand just how thoroughly this movie missed the point of a book that wasn't all that filmmable to begin with, it's still a bad movie on its own merit. Every line is delivered with a dire delivery. The incidental music is utterly dreary and the pacing is practically non-existent. I hit "Next Scene" throughout my viewing of this movie so I think I ended up watching 30 minutes total. And yet it felt too long.