The Portrait of a Lady

Jane Campion directed this expressive adaptation of the classic novel by Henry James. Isabel Archer (Nicole Kidman) is a young American woman who, after the death of her parents, has been sent to England to visit relatives. While her family's tragedy has left her penniless, Isabel's beauty has ...more

Given The Piano's singular period story about an independent-minded woman, it is not surprising that Jane Campion's stylized version of Henry James' The Portrait of a Lady (1996) is more of an interpretation rather than an adaptation. With an opening montage of modern women, Campion and screenwriter Laura Jones stake a claim to the contemporary resonance in the story of naïve American heiress Isabel Archer. Injecting moments of surreal fantasy into the beautifully expressive, blue-tinged period ...more