The Serpent's Kiss (1997)

Pretty Good

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

The acting in this movie is really good.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

I have read the preceding reviews which offer good summaries and some thoughtful insights into the movie which I agree is beautiful visually and has a fascinating and challenging plot. I am surprised that no-one has mentioned the poems of Andrew Marvell(1621-1678) which I believe permeate the film, especially "The Garden" and "To His Coy Mistress". I probably missed some references myself but there were actually quotes from at least one of these poems. For example "Let us roll all our strength and all/Our sweetness up into one ball/And tear our pleasures with rough strife/Thorough the iron gates of life;/Thus though we cannot make our sun/Stand still, yet we will make him run." The other poem, "The Garden" , though too long to quote here could well stand as a model for major themes in the film and there are also some echoes of the Mower poems of Marvell. A minor comment relating to Ewan McGregor's character Chrome is that, although he is clearly identified as Dutch, reviewers unanimously call him Meneer Chrome as if that is his given name rather than mijnheer, Dutch for mister or sir. Finally, is is too far fetched to identify the reflexive symbol of the serpent's kiss with the fate of Fitzmaurice who, after being essentially the instigator of all the action, inadvertently poisons himself.

When Maneer Chrome (Ewan McGregor) is hired by a wealthy patron Thomas Smithers (Pete Postlethwaite) to create out of "chaos" a magnificent garden that reflects the family's aristocracy, Chrome has no idea that Mrs. Juliana Smither's (Greta Sacchi) 'kissing cousin', James Fitzmaurice (Richard E. Grant) has plotted to bankrupt the family so that he can finally have Juliana for himself.While that is the apparent main plot, there's an intriguing ongoing subplot. Seems the Smither's daughter, Thea/Anna (Carmen Chaplin), thrives in the wooded 'chaos' with a home life that is so stringently ordered & controlled during the Romantic era. Chrome's going to completely destroy Thea's (as she calls herself instead of Anna) refuge: nature in the woods behind her home. This brings her to the brink of insanity, or so her father believes. Therefore, he calls in a (sadistic) physician (Donal McCann) to "cure" the young woman of her "ailments." Chrome is the only one in the picture who realizes that Thea's probably the only sane member of the family. So, in order to show her that he understands her need for the wild & freedom of nature, he builds into the garden a spring just for her. While this begins to endear him to her, Lady Juliana has begun to pay seductive attention to Chrome & the smitten Thea witnesses this. Juliana's attempts to seduce Chrome while her husband is away doesn't escape the notice of her pathologically jealous cousin James, either. Philippe Rousselot directs Tim Rose Price's screenplay.This is an odd show that would seem more like a film coming from Lynch, Cronenberg, Nero or Waters. I keep watching it out of intrigue with the story's intricacies.

I found this movie to be very strange, and indeed it is! The first time I watched this movie I thought to myself "What the heck is going on here!" I completely missed the point of the movie the first time I saw it. Fortunately, I was already acquainted with some of Ewan M.'s work, and thought that surely Mr. Mcgregor would have more sense than to make a pointless movie. Thankfully I was right. I would advise anyone who doesn't understand this movie, or who has only seen it once, to watch it again. There is a deeper meaning. All of the actors and actresses were fabulous in this movie! Although the movie could have served just as well as a short feature, I'm glad that it is longer so that I can enjoy the chemistry between the cast members longer.

I really really want to like this; it just doesn't seem right that you can make a movie with Ewan McGregor, Pete Postlethwaite, and Richard E. Grant and have it be that bad, but bad it is. Imagine a Peter Greenaway wannabe with an IQ of 67 attempting to produce a Jane Austen short story as a darkly melodramatic full-length movie. You have better things to do with your time than watching this film.