The Europeans (1979)

Too much of everything

Just perfect...

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Woe is us! The writer of the book was the same author who gave us the great "Washington Square," which was turned into an Oscar-winning vehicle for Olivia De Havilland in 1949's "The Heiress."What a misery Lee Remick, of all people, found herself in this 1979 film. It's set in the 1850s or, just like "Washington Square" with Massachusetts being the area depicted. The father, an erudite figure, disowned his sister for marrying a Catholic, and the film deals with the children that she had who visit their family from Europe.The adult children meet the two sisters Charlotte and Gertrude. The latter is a woman ahead of her times. For some unexplained reason, the father wants her to marry the town pastor; he is so suited instead for the plain Charlotte. We needed 1 1/2 hours to be made to understand this? Their seems to be someone for everyone here, but the film ends and we really don't know if the Remick wound up with her cousin. To be honest, by that point, we really don't care.

I first saw this movie in a "Henry James on Film" class back in about 1994. I'd just read the novella of the same name and enjoyed it immensely. Not only was it remarkably beautiful and deeply moving but also, at moments, intentionally laugh out loud funny.MIP, as is their way I later discovered, created a script that fails to recognize the difference between the written word and the spoken word/visual image. The camera work is beautiful, and all the superficial details seem so right (furnishings, clothes, surfaces in general), all of which I've found to be typical of MIP films. What a pity they didn't devote at least some of that time to other matters, such as understanding the characters involved. Lines are lifted directly from the novella, with little or no attempt to adapt them to the demands of the big (or small) screen. As a result, all of the glorious subtlety of the original is lost, absolutely lost. James' characters are complex, yes, but also thoroughly real, human, and comprehensible, despite what some of his critics may claim. You wouldn't know that from any of the MIP adaptations of his works, specifically THE BOSTONIANS and THE GOLDEN BOWL. I've yet to see HULLABALOO OVER GEORGIE AND BONNIE'S PICTURES, which is, according to certain film critics, and suggested by what I've read about the film, an adaptation of James' "The Aspern Papers." Ivory has been asked about this, but has refused to answer one way or the other. It doesn't help that MIP films have tended to be shot on such tight time/money budgets that it may be impossible to shoot all the scenes that were scripted, let alone to reshoot a scene when needed. As such, they rely heavily on editing the footage they have. Anyone who studies their films may well find that this approach leads to most unsatisfying results. I've seen ten or more MIP films since this one, in an attempt to determine if this was an isolated misstep on their part, or the norm for them. I found the latter to be the case. Their films make me think of the children's fairy tale of the emperor who had no clothes. But, in the case of MIP fare, it's just the reverse: it's all clothes -- and no emperor!

Ok, maybe I missed something, but the movie seemed very odd to me. The actors and actresses were either lethargic or over-hyper, and seemed to lack sincerity. So after the first five minutes, I gave up trying to follow the plot and concentrated on the costuming instead, which was fabulous. Period movies (especially ones made pre-1990) tend to care less about authenticity, and more about what looks good to the modern eye. This one was a pleasant surprise. In fact, the clothes were so good that I even wonder if they didn't use originals. I want to know, where did they get those incredible fabrics?? The hair, which is where most movies trip up the worst, was quite good except on the blonde lady (who looked like she stepped out of a 1979 issue of Vogue). Less black eye makeup would have completed the stunning job. All in all, I would recomend this movie to anyone at all interested in the look and feel of 1850s new england life, as a superb example of authenticity.

This film is a masterpiece as are all of the Merchant/Ivory's films. The absorbing story and adaptation, the fantastic actors - notably the immensely beautiful Lee Remick - and the eye for detail makes this a unique experience and may be watched again and again.