This movie is an adaptation of an Oscar Wilde Play. Oscar Wilde wrote the play, Lady Windermere's Fan, to be a psychological study, and with its quips and clever dialogue, the play's first performance brought the playwright instant fame.

The premise of the original play aims directly at the narrow-mindedness and vanity of the high social class in London in 1892. Its cinematized version, however, takes the story to a more modern place and time, thus doing injustice to what Wilde had in mind.

Wilde's play was written as a social commentary; this movie is made for entertainment. The movie succeeds only because human emotions do not change with time, place, and social mores. If one has not read or watched the original play, the movie entertains somewhat effectively with its scenery, costumes, and the startling nature of the plot twist at the end. Except for the opening scene in New York, the setting of the movie is in the Amalfi coast, Italy, during the 1930’s.

Used to living off married men and being finally rejected by the New York Society, Mrs. Erlynne, with not-too-lofty intentions, arrives at the Amalfi coast where the rich spend their summer vacations. Here, her scandalous past makes the gossip flourish, and when she is sighted with Robert Windermere, the tongues begin to wag.

Robert Windermere is a happily married man, and on Mrs. Erlynne’s suggestion, he buys his wife a fancy fan for her birthday. He also asks his wife Margaret Windermere to invite Mrs. Erlynne to her birthday party. By using the gossip about her husband and Mrs. Erlynne, the womanizing Lord Darlington tries to seduce Lady Windermere, while another rich man, Tuppy, who is quite impressed by Mrs. Erlynne asks her to marry him. The emotional twist at the end comes just in time to show to the audience--if not to all the characters in the movie--that, in reality, Mrs. Erlynne is a good woman.

entertainment.

the cinematography, setting, and the costumes.

what they did with the play. Oscar Wilde's wit seems as if it is glued in patches to the story. Also, taking the piece out of its time and setting has damaged the intention of the original writer.

is Helen Hunt as Mrs. Erlynne and Scarlett Johannson as Lady Windermere, with Tom Wilkinson, Stephen Campbell Moore, Mark Umbers, Milena Vukotic, Diana Hardcastle, Roger Hammond, Jane How, Giorgia Massetti, and John Standing in major roles. It is directed by Mike Barker, and produced by Alan Grenspan, Jonathan English, Steven Siebert and Howard Himelstein. Howard Himelstein has also adapted the screenplay and Neil Farrell has edited the film. Other credits are: cinematography by Ben Seresin; production design by Ben Scott; and music by Richard G. Mitchell.

it is pleasant enough to watch, and those who like the movies for entertainment only may enjoy it.

The DVD--of closed-captioned, widescreen, color format--has been released in 2006 by Lions Gate as one disc with Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track. Its run time is 93 minutes with subtitles in English and Spanish.
After enjoying the movie first, I read the play later, which is offered free on the internet. Had I read the play first, I would have said a few serious things against the movie for not being loyal to Wilde.

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Created Jan 03, 2008 at 6:17pm • Submit your own review...