A Good Woman

Review of "A Good Woman". Directed by Mike Barker, screen play by Howard Hemmelstein.
Starring Scarlett Johanssen; Helen Hunt, Tom Wilkinson, and Stephen Campbell Moore.
A film adaptation of Oscar Wilde's 1892 play "Lady Windemere's Fan".

THE FILM SHOULD BE AS GOOD
By Gaetana Caldwell-Smith
As a fan of Dublin-born Oscar Wilde's, the man himself as well as his work, I was prepared to dislike the film "A Good Woman" based on his first play, "Lady Windermere's Fan," produced in 1892. Previously, he had written children's stories, notably "The Happy Prince" and his most famous novel, the supernatural, "The Picture of Dorian Gray." Director Mike Barker and screen-writer Howard Hemmilstein used part of the play's subtitle for the film's title and changed the time and place. So I went to the theatre with trepidation and came away entranced by the setting, costumes, and especially by Ben Seresin's lush cinematography, if not the acting.

In Barker's "A Good Woman," Lord and Lady Windemere are now simply a wealthy, young couple: Margaret "Meg" and Robert Windemere (a subdued, almost expressionless Scarlett Johanssen and bland, robotish hunk Mark Umbers), who hale from America's North East coast. They have connections to the English upper crust through Robert's father. The film drops any reference to their child, who is mentioned in the play, but never seen. There are nannies for such things, anyway. Seductive intruder, Mrs. Erlynne, is also an American from the same area. She is believably (and surprisingly) played by Helen Hunt, who, in different lights, comes off as both an aging vamp as well as a beautiful, poised, charming woman. Stephen Campbell Moore was cast as Darlington, a well-known playboy who makes no secret of his attraction to Meg. The fine British actor, Tom Wilkinson, who is comfortable playing diverse roles calling for robust, middle-aged men, brings life and credibility to the film as Tuppy, a much married and divorced man of means. Everyone in the Windemere's circle happens to be vacationing on the Italian Riviera.

The film opens up the play, as films often do, by taking it out of the cliche drawing-room setting and moving it to a foreign, romantic one. The Londoners move about the picturesque Italian Riviera town from one ancient mansion to the next; they hang out at a private club, visit quaint shops, attend a local opera; and gather in outdoor cafes to make snide remarks about passersby and each other. A final scene takes place on Darlington's yacht.

Mike Barker stuck to Wilde's basic setup: wealthy young married couple; husband suspected of having an affair with a mysterious woman of ill-repute who has a secret; the wife is courted by a playboy who asks her to run away with him. In all social circles, such matters fertilize bored minds, causing gossip to grow like weed. Gossip is parlayed openly by both men and women in private parlors and in public. Hemmilstein retained much of Wilde's witty, incisive dialogue, especially that of the gossip-mongering women, both old and young. "Scandal is gossip made tedious by morality," says one. He went overboard though by tossing in epigrams from Wilde's other plays. Elderly bit actors spout them while sitting around in dinner jackets smoking cigars and drinking. You always know when an epigram is coming because of the slight, but noticeable, pause that precedes it.

All in all, though not Merchant-Ivory, "A Good Woman" is delightful to look at. The change in time and place made the heartwarming ending more believable than the play's. The film is a nice escape from the proliferation of horror, crime, stupid remakes, inane comedies, and end-of-the world genres that dominate the multiplexes. Check local listings for theatres and times.