THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 16, 1997 TAG: 9701160033
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, ENTERTAINMENT WRITER
LENGTH: 151 lines
Jane Campion, the only woman ever to receive an Oscar nomination for directing an English-language film, would seem to be the least likely choice to make a movie about a woman who is a slave to love.
Nicole Kidman would be only a slightly less likely actress to play the role. Together, though, the women have badgered each other, and the movie industry, to get a surprisingly complex and unpredictable version of Henry James' 1881 novel ``The Portrait of a Lady'' on the screen.
With ``The Piano'' (1993), Campion turned what was expected to be an art-house film into a mainstream hit about a strong woman who used sex (and piano keys) to control the men around her. Her follow-up film has been eagerly awaited; with few women having a voice as powerful as hers in Hollywood, her adaptation of the James novel was expected to be a feminist diatribe.
Instead, the film is a psychologically complex ambiguity in which the heroine, Isabel Archer, chooses a two-bit fortune hunter for her husband, and then stays to suffer.
``Women don't always choose the right man. It's that simple,'' Kidman said in an interview in New York a few days ago. ``And once they're in a bad relationship, they don't always leave.
``What I've learned, so far, is that people either love or hate the movie. There doesn't seem to be any in-between. But they seem to relate to it in a deep way, either way. Some women have come up to me crying, and wanting to hug me. Other people say they just don't get it.''
Campion was working on ``Portrait of a Lady'' before ``The Piano'' was even released, although she had her doubts about its ever getting made. The moviemaking team of Merchant-Ivory, which had already made movie versions of Henry James' novels ``The Bostonians'' and ``The Europeans,'' had also announced plans to make ``Portrait.''
``I don't work very fast,'' Campion said, ``and I didn't want to get involved in a race, so I backed down. Then I began to think I was being pretty wimpy about it. I decided to go forward with it, and they backed down.
``I've known Nicole since she was a child. Since she went to the States, I'd become worried about protecting her talent. She was so young. Frankly, I think what has happened to her in Hollywood is not all favorable. I blame the agents, not her.''
Kidman's father is a lecturer in biochemistry and her mother is a nurse/educator. She studied ballet as a child and enrolled in drama school at age 10. At only 17, she won Australia's best-actress award for a mini-series called ``Vietnam.'' Americans took notice of her as a terrorized wife in the already-classic thriller ``Dead Calm'' in 1989. So did Tom Cruise. He chose her as his leading lady in the auto racing film ``Days of Thunder.'' They both claim it was love at first sight.
Kidman and Cruise have been married for six years and have two adopted children, Isabella, 3, and Connor, 1.
In 1995, she escaped from his shadow with the box office bonanza ``Batman Returns'' on the commercial level and scored with the critics in ``To Die For.'' It was widely assumed she would receive an Oscar nomination, but she didn't. Some people apparently thought she wasn't acting in the dark comedy about ruthless ambition.
``It never entered my mind that people would think I was like the character in `To Die For,' '' she said. ``I don't choose roles because they're likable. I wasn't disappointed when I didn't get an Oscar nomination. I had heard that some Academy voters walked out during screenings of it.''
Oscar talk started long before ``The Portrait of a Lady'' was released, but it looks as if another disappointment may be in the making. It's not a showy performance. Rather, it depicts a woman's inner, psychological troubles.
``It's the most difficult role I've ever played, by far,'' Kidman said. ``Jane rehearsed with me for two months before we began filming, in England and Italy. When it was over, I was taken to the hospital for exhaustion. I don't regret any of it.''
``Portrait'' follows a familiar Henry James theme - the naive energy and innocence of the New World Americans vs. the wisdom, sophistication and decadence of the Old World Europeans. Isabel Archer is well-educated, energetic, beautiful and forceful, but she turns down several wealthy suitors to marry Gilbert Osmond (played by John Malkovich), who turns out to hate not only her but also all women.
``The most frequent question I get is, `Why doesn't she leave him?' '' Kidman said. ``It's not that simple. I first read the novel at age 17. I liked it, but it didn't obsess me. When I read it, again, at age 22, I was involved in a relationship from which I couldn't leave - not easily. I can identify. And, yes, I think men can identify too. Men often choose the wrong woman also, but I think they're more prone to leave - to get out of it. A woman doesn't want to admit that she's made a mistake. Isabel, I think was so beaten down that she thought no one else would ever love her. Women are like that. They'll think they're not worthy of love.''
Kidman said making the movie was a case of ``two women working together. Working with a woman on this particular project meant that I could give my trust a bit quicker, I think. Jane was very tough, very demanding, but she and I became like sisters. I went home crying at times. I'd think, `Jane, help me. Please help me.' And she did.''
Campion admits that she, too, identifies with the novel's premise. ``I'm a romantic. I'm in love with romance,'' she said. ``When I was in my 20s, I was involved in a relationship that was difficult to leave. For two years afterward, I wouldn't trust any man.''
The director had reservations about Kidman, however. Even though Kidman had been announced in the press for the movie, Campion was not reassured by looking at some of her films. She demanded that Kidman come in for a two-day audition. At the end, Campion rehired her.
``Nicole is, actually, very fierce. She says what she believes and thinks,'' Campion said. ``She's discovered the power that her talent can give her. She's decided that, in spite of her mainstream looks, and her husband, to a certain extent, that she has talent of her own.''
After cutting the first 100 pages of James' book, and changing the ending, this ``Portrait of a Lady'' can hardly be regarded as a slave to the book. It is James' repetition and analysis of characters that often drives filmmakers away (although William Wyler's ``The Heiress,'' based on James' ``Washington Square,'' is one of the great films).
Campion denies that she has betrayed her power by not turning ``Portrait'' into more of a feminist statement. ``I think it IS a feminist statement,'' she said. ``I think women must know they are trapped before they can escape.
``Isabel thinks she is very brave to stay, and she is, within limits. It's not just about repression in another age and it's not about men repressing women. It's about women repressing themselves. It's about women trying to find happiness - against the odds. The odds are not always just men.''
Kidman feels the drama is very modern. ``I wear bustles and have handkerchiefs,'' she said, ``but the situation is very 20th century. This is a woman who wants the chances and dangers of life. She's just not capable of giving them up. I can identify with that.''
The Cruises have homes in New York, Los Angeles, Sydney and Telluride, Colo. Persistent rumors that they were thinking of buying a home on the Outer Banks of North Carolina were squelched when they bought the Telluride place instead. Cruise's stepbrother was once an editor in the Virginia Beach office of the Virginian-Pilot. Cruise avoids the press, but Kidman is readily available, and open.
``I never really thought that people would evaluate my career in tandem with Tom's,'' she said, ``but I think it's good that we are facing this as a couple. It would be terrible to be facing this kind of scrutiny alone. My life has changed now that I have children. My profession no longer drives my life. It's just a part of it.
``I'd like for Tom, the children and I to live on a deserted island. I'd start an entirely new philosophy.''
After a moment of thought, though, she added, ``After a month or so, I'd probably say, `Let's get back to work.' '' ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photos]
GRAMMERCY PICTURES
Nicole Kidman plays the heroine, trapped in a destructive marriage
in Jane Campion's film version of "Portrait of a Lady."
Barbara Hershey and John Malkovich co-star in the movie, which opens
in area theaters Friday.
GRAMMERCY PICTURES
Director Jane Campion, seated with her daughter, discusses a scene
with two actresses on the set of ``The Portrait of a Lady.''
GRAMERCY PICTURES
Director Jane Campion, seated with her daughter, discusses a scene
with two actresses on the set of ``The Portrait of a Lady.''
KEYWORDS: INTERVIEW