The Portrait of a Lady poster & wallpaper

Nicole Kidman, John Malkovich, Barbara Hershey

Isabel Archer, an American heiress and free thinker travels to Europe to find herself. She tactfully rebuffs the advances of Caspar Goodwood, another American who has followed her to England. Her cous...( read more  read more... )in, Ralph Touchett, wise but sickly becomes a soulmate of sorts for her. She makes an unfortunate alliance with the creepy Madame Merle who leads her to make an even more unfortunate alliance with Gilbert Osmond, a smooth but cold collector of Objets' de art who seduces her with an intense but unattainable sexuality. Isabel marries Osmond only to realize she's just another piece of art for his collection and that Madame Merle and Osmond are lovers who had hatched a diabolical scheme to take Isabel's fortune. Isabel's only comfort is the innocent daughter of Osmond, Pansy, but even that friendship is spoiled when Countess Gemini, Osmond's sister, reveals the child's true parentage. Isabel finally breaks free of Osmond and returns to Ralph's bedside, where, while breathing his last, they both realize how truly connected they are, physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

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51% liked it

6,054 ratings

PG-13, 144 min.

Directed by: Jane Campion

Release Date: December 24, 1996

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DVD Release Date: September 14, 1999

Stats: 211 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (211)

  • StaisilD
    July 16, 2007
    StaisilD
    I found this movie to be quite boring at times. Some of the actors don't even have an English accent, and since it is an English movie I would think that it would be a nessecity to have one. The only thing I enjoyed besides Christian Bale ( that it took along time before he ente...( read more)r the movie) or the costumes.
  • garebearsgirl
    June 17, 2007
    garebearsgirl
    I think I might be the only person who has seen this movie. I love the movie and the book. It is such a sad movie, but worth watching.
  • habitualdamnation
    December 14, 2006
    habitualdamnation
    Rich.
  • ileo
    December 12, 2007
    ileo
    Fantastic!
  • shannylee38
    December 20, 2006
    shannylee38
    Film not so good but Malkovich nailed it!
  • UsernameMissing
    February 2, 2009
    UsernameMissing
    Nicole Kidman is absolutely stunning! Beautiful adaptation for a beautiful book,John Malkovich gives a brilliant performance as Osmond,Martin Donovans best performance ever.Visually amazing and greatly scripted.Must watch!
  • xxxcli213xxx
    December 11, 2008
    xxxcli213xxx
    nothanks not my kinda thing
  • Phonex
    September 24, 2008
    Phonex
    Suzanne Stone (Kidman) is a young, beautiful, and ruthless woman who dreams of being a world famous news anchor despite her rather limited intellect and talent. To that end, she marries Larry Maretto (Dillon) because she believes his Mafia connections will keep her financially co...( read more)mfortable, and starts climbing the network news ladder, beginning as a weather girl at a local cable station. When Larry, who truly loves Suzanne, starts asking her to take time off from her career to start a family, she immediately plots to get rid of him, seducing a high school student, Jimmy Emmett (Phoenix), and strong-arming him and his friends into killing Larry. The story becomes national news, and Suzanne finally has the stardom she has always wanted ? while Jimmy goes to prison for life.

    In the end, however, Suzanne gets her comeuppance when Larry's family has her murdered. The hitman (director David Cronenberg in a cameo) lures Suzanne away from her home by pretending to be interested in publishing her life story, then buries her under a frozen lake, her favourite spot, where she once skated. In a final irony, Jimmy's unassuming friend Lydia Mertz (Folland), whom the waspy Suzanne always dismissed as "trailer trash", gains national attention by telling her side of the story in a television interview, becoming rich and famous. The final scene shows Larry's sister Janice (Douglas), practicing her figure skating on the frozen lake where her body is hidden, a symbol of biting justice considering Suzanne's habit of overshadowing Janice throughout the movie.

    This movie was based on a true case in which a school media services coordinator named Pamela Smart enlisted three of her students to murder her husband, Gregory Smart. Billy Flynn was the trigger man when he was only 16-years-old, after having had a sexual relationship with Pamela. Pam Smart is still in prison, serving a life sentence. Flynn is also in prison but serving a lesser sentence. The trial was the first fully televised case in the United States.

    Katherine Ramsland of Crime Library describes the movie as an example of a work displaying women with antisocial traits; Ramsland describes Suzanne as a "manipulator extraordinaire" who harms people through third parties.[1]
  • Javad697
    August 17, 2008
    Javad697
    Very god movie...
    An interesting film with an undercurrent of sexual repression similar to that in Campion's other films. Nicole Kidman is excellent, given the material, though her transition from likable, virtuous innocent to a cold and corrupted woman doesn't ring as true as it...( read more) should--the three years glossed over with a subtitle isn't adequate to show the change. I blame this on the interpretation, direction, and/or editing rather than Kidman's performance, however. Malkovich is not as strong, and one wonders what any woman could see in him as a lover.
    The ending is cold and unsettling. Most filmmaker prefer to know that their hero/heroine is "safe" at the end of the story. Here, who knows ?
    Production values are good, and the film is quite stylish with interesting use of camera tilt, lighting, and angles. It's quite artsy. I am glad I saw the film, but acknowledge it's not likely to be everyone's cup of tea.
    I like that.
  • guzto8
    May 5, 2008
    guzto8
    how can i rate it wen i haven't watch it at all

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  • Which one of these movies was Nicole Kidman NOT nominated for an Oscar or Golden Globe?  Answer »
  • What actress has been in the following films: Fried Green Tomatoes Saved Boys on the Side The Portrait of a Lady Mr. Wonderful  Answer »
  • Nicole Kidman has appeared in My Life (1993/I) with Michael Keaton, Batman Forever (1995) with Val Kilmer, The Peacemaker (1997) with George Clooney and The Portrait of a Lady (1996) with Christian Bale. All four actors have played Batman in a movie.  Answer »
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