ࡱ> #` Ҥbjbj\.\. .>D>D 1118141$m`<$2Lp2p2p22|4|4|4_______$ahd`TOZ4Z4"TOTO`"p22'``_`_`_TO p28p2_`_TO_`_`_`_p22 ^<216\`__ =`0m``_d^jd`_d`_|4R =`_vDTI|4|4|4``2_.|4|4|4m`TOTOTOTO d&$ d&  Art of the Past: Adapting Henry Jamess The Golden Bowl Sarah Artt The Golden Bowl is Henry Jamess last completed novel and the most recently adapted for film. It is also the final James adaptation to be made by the producer-director team of Ismail Merchant and James Ivory, who had planned to adapt Jamess The Portrait of a Lady or The Wings of the Dove but were pre-empted by the 1996 and 1997 film adaptations by Jane Campion and Iain Softley respectively. (Owens 2000: 1) What makes these recent adaptations of Jamess work particularly interesting is the way they manage to construct a careful economy of symbolic objects that represent a visual compression of Jamess notoriously difficult late written style, while playing their essentially melodramatic narratives for realism. These films represents a significant moment in the overall history of James adaptations ( J. Sarah Kochs 2002 filmography of Henry James lists 125 film and television adaptations of his work, with the earliest dating from 1933) as directors and their teams begin to address the process of adapting James in a new way. As Sheldon Hall has commented that it is the central failing of almost all heritage criticism that it has not been able to deal adequately with the films mise-en-scne, (2001: 197) and it is precisely this gap in the field that this article proposes to go some way towards addressing. Even Andrew Higson, in his notably critical observations of heritage cinema acknowledges that mise-en-scne can be read as expressive of narrative themes. (2003: 77) However, Merchant Ivorys adaptation of Jamess novel goes far beyond the mere expression of narrative themes in its use of art objects, instead using the camera to allow the viewer to contemplate the significance of these objects in a way that is both uniquely cinematic and Jamesian, as Adeline Tintner in her essay The Museum World of Henry James confirms: [A]n object of art itself, a golden bowl, which, first a symbol of Amerigo and Charlottes adultery, becomes a symbol of the Ververs deformed attitude to their precious people. For when people are treated like works of art, certain human needs are ignored which will eventually assert themselves and turn the tables on those who possess them. (1963: 153) The film adaptations deployment of art objects may initially feed viewers and critics expectations of nostalgia and what Higson has called a museum aesthetic.(1996: 233) Where Higson is pejorative in his use of the term museum to denote the more select landscapes, interior designs and furnishings conserved by such bodies as English Heritage and the National Trust, (1996:233) Tintner makes it clear that the art objects that appear throughout Jamess novels give out a meaning proper to themselves, (1963: 140) an effect the film adaptation also uses. As I will demonstrate in this article, the film adaptation of The Golden Bowl deploys a variety of artistic influences, from the work of John Singer Sargent, to Serge Diaghilevs Ballets Russes, to Hans Holbeins Portrait of Henry VIII woven into the visual fabric of the adapted narrative in such a way that its meaning becomes increasingly layered, creating a kind of Jamesian cinematic effect. As Pamela Church Gibson has remarked, Heritage films made during the 90s became increasingly painterly. This is particularly noticeable in the use of tableauxreminiscent of the way in which Peter Greenaway has used the work of different artists. (Church Gibson 2000: 117) John Orr provides an informative description of Greenaways painterly aesthetic in The Cook, the Thief, his Wife and her Lover: In the dining room of The Cook, Franz Hals portrait of the Haarlem officers, who stare down from the back wall, mocks the latter-day chevaliers of Albert Spica who sit parodically framed under their portrait doubles in similar sashes, similar saturations of red and black. This self-conscious framing creates multi-layered images whose richness is enhanced by widescreen, by saturated colours and by depth of field. (Orr 2000: 333) James Ivory is no exception to this trend, citing the paintings of John Singer Sargent as a direct influence on the look of The Golden Bowl. (Ivory, 1) In addition to his reputation as a society and literary portraitist (Sargents portrait of James now hangs in the National Portrait Gallery in London), Sargent also traveled extensively throughout Europe, North America, Africa and the Middle East, and he painted many scenes to reflect these travels. The film of The Golden Bowl takes Sargent as its visual inspiration in both his society and traveling modes. Orientalist imagery appears in two key scenes: Charlottes appearance as Cleopatra at the Lancaster House costume ball, and a harem ballet performance watched by the characters in a private home. The setting and costumes in both these sequences recall the atmosphere of Sargents Middle Eastern painting Fume d Ambre Gris (1880) and the ballet itself is clearly meant to be a version of Schhrazade, as performed by Diaghilevs Ballet Russes seen for the first time in Europe in Paris in 1908. (Black and Garland 1975: 311) This variety of visual influences demonstrates an eclectic approach to adapting Jamess text and the costume drama, In The Museum World of Henry James Tintner has remarked of The Golden Bowl that Adam takes the form of art patron with such intensity that the Prince becomes a crystal; Charlotte, Oriental tiles; and even his daughter some draped antique of Vatican or Capitoline halls. (1963: 153) It is Adams role as collector that shapes the narratives treatment of people as objects, and art objects as evocative symbols, qualities the adaptation reflects visually. In the novel, Adams acquisition of a set of Damascene tiles (James 2001: 191) coincides with his contemplation of Charlotte as a potential wife: As it had served him to satisfy himself, so to speak, both about Amerigo and about the Bernardino Luini he had happened to come to knowledge of at the time he was consenting to the announcement of his daughters betrothal, so it served him at present to satisfy himself about Charlotte Stant and an extraordinary set of oriental tiles of which he had lately got wind (James 2001: 179) The films orientalised vision of Charlotte in her blue and gold Cleopatra costume takes on the same quality as that of the tiles described in the novel: oh so tenderly unmuffled and revealedthere at last in their full harmony and their venerable splendourthe immemorial amesthystine blue of the glaze, scarcely more meant to be breathed upon, it would seem, than the cheek of royalty. (James 2001: 191) The Cleopatra costume denotes Charlotte as a kind of heritage femme fatale, but also represents her status as Adams social currency; just as her body is on display, so is Adams wealth. As Jean Baudrillard comments in The System of Objects: In short, there is something of the harem about collecting, for the whole attraction may be summed up as that of an intimate series (one term of which is at any given time the favourite) combined with a serial intimacy. (2006: 88) Charlottes orientalised costume, rather than marking her solely as Adams favourite, recalls her explicit connection to the Damascene tiles, making her simply one in a series of beautiful objects that have been ruthlessly acquired by Adam. Gaylyn Studlar, in Out-Salomaing Salome: Dance, the New Woman and Fan Magazine Orientalism traces an important link between orientalist images of dancers in the early twentieth century and the early cinematic figure of the vamp: [T]he Ballets Russes inversion of sexual power was accomplished in large measure through visual presentation, such as in Clopatra, where Ida Rubinsteins towering presence was dramatically contrasted with Nijinskys feline Golden Slave. In the Ballets Russes and other dance formats, brutal sensuality began to be associated with a female figure. That figure was translated into film as the orientalized vamp who came to represent the New Woman. (Studlar 1997: 116) In the context of Studlars remarks, Charlottes Cleopatra costume and her enjoyment of the oriental ballet take on even greater significance. Not only does the costume link her with the historical figure of Cleopatra and her many literary, theatrical and cinematic antecedents, all famed for their power and sensuality, but this costume, in tandem with the oriental ballet sequence denotes Charlottes cinematic identity as a femme fatale using imagery contemporaneous with the diegetic setting. Studlars description of the Ballets Russes staging, with Cleopatra towering over her male slave mirrors Charlottes thoughts at the beginning of the Lancaster House ball passage, as James describes it in the novel: [B]ut she missed no countenance and invited no protection; she fairly liked to be, so long as she might, just as she wasexposed a little to the public, no doubt, in her unaccompanied state, but, even if it were a bit brazen, careless of queer reflections on the dull polish of London faces, and exposed, since it was a question of exposure, to much more competent recognitions of her own. (James 2001: 214) The adaptation shows a similar scene: Charlottes is shown in her costume, standing alone in an elevated position on the staircase leading up to the ballroom, glancing proudly down at Amerigo, while he climbs the stair to join her. Charlottes position as the desiring woman, although hinted at before, is consolidated by this scene. Throughout the costume ball sequence in the adaptation it becomes evident that Charlotte is the great social diva of her set. It is her desire to wear a provocative costume, to be escorted by Amerigo, and to have their photographs taken. Later, when she and Amerigo recommence their affair, it comes as no surprise that it is at Charlottes insistence. Charlottes appearance as Cleopatra also links her visually to a later sequence, that of the oriental ballet. While Jamess novel shows the same activities and dialogue taking place at a dinner party, the adaptation places them around the performance of a ballet in a private home. From a historical perspective, the story of The Golden Bowl is set prior to 1908, too early to encompass the influence of the Ballet Russes performance of Schhrazade, but it is clear from the Middle Eastern costumes of the dancers in this scene that Serge Diaghilevs Ballets Russes are indeed the visual and narrative influence for this interlude. In his article Out of the Past: Fashion/ Orientalism/The Body Peter Wollen offers an illuminating description of the Ballets Russes performance of Schhrazade which debuted in Paris in 1910. The spectacle of Schhrazade was freely devised to fit Rimsky-Korsakovs symphonic poem [of the same name]. It displayed the fantastic scenography of Oriental despotism in concentrated form. In Act 1, the Shah, refusing the entreaties of his favorite, Zobeida, and the attraction of three odalisques, leaves on a hunting expedition. In Act 2 the women of the harem adorn themselves with jewels and bribe the eunuchs to admit black slaves (wearing rose and green costumes and covered with body paint). Finally Zobeida bids the Chief Eunuch open a third door to release the Golden Slave (played in Paris by Nijinsky). Dancing girls inspire passion and the scene turns into an orgy, all whirling and springing in a frenzied dance. In Act 3 the Shah returns and janissaries with flashing scimitars massacre the women and the slaves. The Golden Slave is the last to die, spinning on his head like a break-dancer. Finally, as the Shah hesitates to kill his favourite, she commits suicide. The Shah buries his face in his hands. (Wollen 1993: 3) The ballet we see in the film of The Golden Bowl strongly resembles a condensed version of Schhrazade, with a few key differences. In the films ballet, the Shah first appears accompanied by a young boy playing a flute. As his favorite (identified by her crown-like headdress) and other women attendants dance for his entertainment, the Shah becomes bored, exiting with the young boy and a dismissive gesture to the assembled women. The next scene shows the attendants bringing out a veiled package on a pedestal. The layers of colourful silk are pulled away to reveal a young male dancer, lightly gilded with body paint (a clear reference to The Golden Slave) wearing only a pair of pantaloon trousers and a decorative chain across his chest. He and the favourite perform a dance of passionate embrace while the other dancers look on, forming various circles and barriers around them. When the Shah returns, he slays all the attendants, leaving the golden slave for last. At her lovers death, the favourite grabs the Shahs dagger and kills herself. The fact that the Shah leaves the dancing in the company of a young child (as opposed to a hunting expeditionalthough this practice can also be likened to Adams passion for collecting) can be viewed as a reflection of Adams preference for his daughters and grandsons company. The favourites headdress and the orientalised costumes of the dancers recall the colour and texture of Charlottes Cleopatra costume. Adam, like the Shah, appears relatively indifferent to Charlottes charms, except as a vehicle for displaying his wealth, as he says to her the whole world must see you, in all your splendour. The favourites method of bringing out her handsome lover the moment the Shah is away corresponds with Charlottes renewal of her affair with Amerigo after her marriage to Adam. The ballet sequence follows that of a country house party thrown by the vulgar Lady Casteldean, where Charlotte and Amerigo manage to evade their fellow houseguests to spend the afternoon in a room at the local inn, where they have sex for the first time in many years, forming a parallel with the section of the ballet where the favourite and her lover embrace, while the other attendants covertly look on. The Shahs wrath is a foreshadowing of an upcoming scene in the adaptation that shows Adam, Amerigo and the Principino visiting a factory, and then being chauffered in a car. Adam relates a story of being on honeymoon with Maggies mother in Paris. A man in a restaurant looks at Adams wife in a kind of way I really didnt like. Adam became so enraged with jealousy that he grabbed a knife off the table and rushed over to him, and only his wife was able to stop him. Adam tries to laugh this off, making it into a kind of pleasantry, saying it was probably just the butter knife[and] I guess they were all scared of that crazy, wild American. But Amerigos grave expression indicates that he takes all this very much to heart, especially Adams comment that if Maggie or the Principino were hurt I dont know of anything I might not be capable of. The ballet sequence also mirrors Charlottes social position as that of the Shahs favorite, the desiring female, who takes a handsome lover. Amerigo is the feminized male, the prince who is chosen as the queens lover. Adam is in turn another feminized male, feminized because of his cuckolded position in relation to Charlotte. By couching these themes in the trappings of an exotic, morally disordered east, Charlottes desires are displayed (literally) as disruptive, foreign, and punishable. This is of course exactly what happens to Charlotte, who is punished for her desires, though not as violently as her film noir compatriots, or indeed, the Shahs favourite in the ballet. At the end of the story, Charlotte is exiled to the cultural backwater of American City, far from her lover and cosmopolitan life, and forced to act as chatelaine to Adams collection in a dull parody of the social success she has achieved abroad. The actions that take place around the ballet involve knowledge and revelation of secrets, as well as an uncharacteristic expression of dislike from Maggie. Just before the ballet, Charlotte and Maggie are arguing about Adams plan for trip to Spain, as he wishes to take Maggie and not Charlotte. They are interrupted by Lady Castledean, who disingenuously reprimands Amerigo for not bringing Maggie to the country house party. Maggie immediately expresses her dislike of Lady Castledean, though she does not yet know that this is the hostess who, in an effort to conceal her own infidelities, has facilitated that of Charlotte and Amerigo. It is also during the ballet sequence that Charlotte begins to fear that Fanny has revealed her affair with Amerigo. The exposed secret theme of the ballet coincides with the growing suspicions of Maggie, Adam and Charlotte. The characters who watch the ballet express interest or disgust: Charlotte openly enjoys the ballet, while Adam quickly leaves, claiming he does not care for the modern music (the adaptation uses Claude Debussys Sarabande). Fanny appears somewhat scandalized, and Lady Castledeans paramour Mr. Blint remarks its just like in Hamlet, as they glance at Amerigo. The ballets explosion of colour, sexuality and the exotic amidst the refined, golden colour palette that dominates the rest of the film, constitutes a strong visual representation of the sexual undercurrent of Jamess novel. Like Charlotte, Amerigo is also a symbol of the Verver wealth and social currency, represented in the adaptation by his gift to Adam: a medallion depicting the head of the ancestor after whom he is named. This condensation of Jamesian description into the display of art objects within the adaptations digesis can be related to what Tintner calls the use of art object as talisman. (1963: 154) Whilst Amerigo has gained access to the Verver fortune through his marriage, he has also given up a good deal of his own autonomyrepresented by the presentation of the medallionAdam is now very much in possession of the image of the historical Amerigo, as well as his current son-in-law. Jeremy Northam, who plays Amerigo in the film adaptation, plays the character as essentially a trophy husband. Amerigo has no occupation apart from the restoration of his ancestral palazzo and, like Charlotte, acting as social ambassador for Adam and Maggie. As a morceau de muse for the Ververs, Amerigo not only provides a physical connection to the European past through his royal title, now shared by Maggie and their son (only ever referred to as the Principinomeaning little prince), he also helps to build Adams collection of treasure with his palazzo. Since the palazzo can only be restored with Mr. Ververs millions, as Charlotte remarks at the beginning of the film, it becomes a kind of Italian outpost of Adams far flung art collection. Garrett Stewart remarks on the films visualization of Amerigo as art object and trophy husband/son-in-law in the sequence where Amerigo presents Adam with the medallion just before Maggies wedding: The family heirloom on offer is none other than an impressed medallion imaging the princes heroic forebear, the navigator Amerigo: almost a coin of exchange in its own right. It is soon passed in eroticized connoisseurship between the hands of the Prince and Maggie as well, before he exits the scene, after having cast a long, self-aware glance at the male objet dart he is becoming. (Stewart 2002: 4) The male objet dart to which Stewart refers, is in fact a classical Greco-Roman bronze sculpture of a young, naked man, perhaps a fallen warrior, an athlete, even a slave. This scene functions as a literalization of novelistic metaphors (Stewart 2002: 6) that Stewart describes, in the sense that the scene does visualize Jamess description of Amerigo as a morceau de musee. While the line of dialogue where Maggie refers to Amerigo as a museum piece remains intact in the adaptation, the greater implications of Amerigos subservient position are brought to the fore through the use of an art object with its own meaning within the frame. Rather than have Amerigo describe his position verballya handsome aristocrat in need of a rich wife, or have him make a direct verbal comparison between himself and the sculptureit is all communicated with Amerigos prolonged glance at this same object. This scene also conforms to Leland S. Persons theory that the adaptation of The Golden Bowl reflects on the consequences of granting women the power to judge manliness and male sexual potency. (Person 2002: 26) The sculpture is of a man leaning on the ground, with his legs stretching out to the side. His head is also turned downward, away from the viewer, while the tightly muscled body is turned and exposed to the viewers gaze, just as Amerigos body, having signed a pre-nuptial agreement and set the date for his marriage to Maggie has now more or less been bought by his wife and her father. This position of financial dependence places Amerigo alongside Charlotte, whose only way out of genteel poverty is to marry a fortune and exchange her beauty for financial security. Amerigos glance at the fallen man sculpture not only implies that he too has sold himself in marriage, but that, for him, there is emasculation in being a man who marries money. Amerigos look in this scene reminds us that he is the Ververs property, and the way Jeremy Northam is styled and dressed as Amerigo in the film recalls yet another art object, John Singer Sargents portrait Dr. Samuel Jean Pozzi at home (1881). An image of this painting appears in an interview with James Ivory on the Merchant Ivory website about The Golden Bowl where Ivory cites the influence of various painters, including Sargent, on the look of the film. This imposing portrait is of an elegant, dark haired man with a neat moustache and goatee delicately clasping the neck of his vivid red dressing gown. Jeremy Northam as Amerigo also wears a groomed goatee, and strongly resembles Pozzi in terms of facial features and bearing. Looking at Amerigo by way of Sargent, he becomes even more sexualized, not just a museum piece and art object, but also a sex object. As Clair Monk confirms: ...the males in the Merchant-Ivory films are surrounded by visual pleasures of landscape, architecture and period objects which affirm a context of 'feminine' or feminised display. Moreover, the diegetic emphasis on the gaze itself provides an entirely non-violent pretext for looking guiltlessly at the male. (1997:2) Therefore, Jeremy Northam as Amerigo is deliberately displayed as both the Ververs' possession and the sexual object of Charlotte's and Maggies gaze. With his Sargentesque styling (a painterly technique normally reserved for female characters) and his visual connection to the Amerigo coin and the fallen man sculpture, Amerigo's looks are signalled as being on display for the female characters and the viewer. The film adaptation presents both Amerigo and Charlotte as sexualised art objects purchased by the Verver fortunes, but just as Amerigo is presented for Charlotte's and Maggie's viewing, Charlotte is clearly marked as an addition to Adam's collection. Examples from Adams art collection punctuate the film, delineating the different aspects of Adams personality. When Amerigo presents him with the medallion, we see Adam in his role as benign collector, appreciating and acquiring, but also underscoring Adams immense wealth through the use of an object that resembles an oversized coin, complimenting the intertitle that introduces Adam as Americas first billionaire. When Amerigo looks at the sculpture of the fallen man, we know he sees himself as a figure who has been beaten, dominated by his future father-in-laws wealth. There is a similarly double-edged use of art objects in Adams acquisition of Charlotte as his prospective wife. Before their marriage, there is a scene where Adam warmly shows Charlotte his series of Raphael drawings, describing them as old friends who can stay as long as they like. In the adaptation, Charlotte is staying with Adam to keep him company while Amerigo and Maggie are on holiday in Italy. After spending some time alone with her, Adam wants to demonstrate his increasing fondness for Charlotte by showing her some of his collection. What he shows her are five Raphael drawings, which he clearly prizes and appreciates. Four of the drawings are shown in close-up and present an interesting montage of images: a lamentation over the body of Christ, a Madonna and child, the head of a young man and what is possibly a depiction of the rape of the Sabine women, an image Charlotte is seen scrutinizing closely. Adams obvious fondness for the drawings is evident from the way he describes them, as he tells Charlotte, he takes them everywhere he goes, that they make him feel at home. In the novel, Adam is seen in much more explicit terms as applying the same measure of value to such different pieces of property as old Persian carpets, say, and new human acquisitions. (James 2001: 179) However, just as Adam takes his Raphaels everywhere, he will also eventually insist on Charlotte accompanying him when he returns to America. Adams limited ability to cope with the grand social life that befits his wealth and positionhe prefers the company of Maggie and his grandsoncertainly accounts for his choosing his daughters school friend as a wife. Charlotte is beautiful and accomplished to such a degree that she, in the economy of exchange at work in the society portrayed by James, would expect to marry a wealthy man on the basis of her looks and talents, but she is also entirely familiar to Adam, ensuring he does not have to acquire anyone new in his circle. The real tone of Charlotte and Adams marriage is carefully presented in the adaptation in the following scene. Charlotte is packing for a weekend in the country when Adam announces he no longer intends to go and tries to persuade her to decline as well. When Charlotte says nothing at this suggestion (her sharp physical movements indicate annoyance), Adam relents immediately, saying the whole world must see you in all your splendour, to which Charlotte replies Well Adam, we cant all hide ourselves away from the world. Someone has to go to these sort of things, whether we want to or not. Adam then selects a heavy gold chain from Charlottes jewelry box and places it around her neck, commenting on its loveliness but also keeping his hand around her neck, as Charlotte gazes at her reflection, before turning to embrace him. This scene is clearly meant to act as a visual adaptation of Jamess description of Adam and Charlottes relationship from the novel: the likeness of their connexion [sic] wouldnt have been wrongly figured if he had been thought of as holding in one of his pocketed hands the end of a long, silken halter looped round her beautiful neck. (James 2001: 523) Person confirms that this visualization of Jamess metaphor in the screen adaptation reinforc[es] the economic basis of their marriage and acknowledg[es] his [Adams] authority. (2002: 32) While Charlotte initially uses Adams money to gratify both his taste and her own, it is only after Adam suspects her infidelity with Amerigo that he begins to assert his own taste and will exclusively. This darker side of Adam is also reflected in one of the final pieces we see from his art collection, an imposing Hans Holbein portrait of Henry VIII. Unlike the Raphael drawings, most of Adams vast collection is eventually intended for display. The adaptation makes special use of Holbeins full-length Portrait of Henry VIII in the final scenes where Charlotte is acting as tour guide to some of the collections highlights, before they are shipped off to American City. In the film, Charlotte comments on the painting to a crowd of spectators, while Adam looks on, quietly menacing: I think you will all agree with me when I say that this life-size portrait of King Henry VIII by Hans Holbein dominates all the other pictures in this room. Holbein presents the most striking depiction of royal authority in English art. But to me its also a chilling portrait of the masculine ego in all its brutal physical strength and hardness. The subject matches the cold hardness of Holbeins style here, which brings out so well the Kings defiance of all who stood in his way, including his numerous women, who one by one went to their doom. Charlottes description of the painting echoes Jamess text where Maggie imagines Adams thoughts on Charlotte: I lead her now by the neck, I lead her to her doom. (James 2001: 524) In this way, the Holbein portrait brings the weight of one English monarchs horrific marital history to bear on that of the characters in the adaptation, once more evoking and condensing Jamess text in a richly symbolic visual representation. Charlottes description to the crowd of Holbeins representation of the masculine ego and the way the camera pans from the foot of the painting to the very top, taking in the whole figure in a series of medium close-up shots, not only conveys the powerful visual impact of the artwork itself, but it also underscores the state of Charlottes marriage to Adam at the end of the story. The adaptation also uses a long shot that shows Adam standing on the stairs, looking down on Charlotte as she stands, dwarfed in front of the immense painting. In the adaptation, Adam is played by Nick Nolte, whose severe expression and stance in this scene mirror that of the king in the painting. The adaptation is able to show us the original painting, since it resides in a private collection at Belvoir Castle, where much of Bowl was shot. Ivory states openly we made up the Verver collection out of the real art in the houses where we were shooting, and in some cases we added to that, (Ivory 2000: 2) as with the series of copies of Raphael drawings. (Ivory 2000: 2) Drawings (as opposed to the Holbein painting, for example) delicate and executed on a small scale, are often not even made to withstand any length of time. To possess and appreciate drawings of such delicacy and beauty mirrors Adams preference for a small social circle and the intimacy of his relationship with Maggie and the Principino. On the other hand, the Holbein portrait represents Adams public image as the billionaire art collector with connections to European royalty and the beautiful young wife. These two contrasting examples of art from Adams collection in the film adaptation reflect the extremes of Adams personality. The adaptation distances us from the bitter possibilities inherent in the novels ending through a sequence in the style of an early cinema newsreel, showing crates of treasures being unloaded while Adam and Charlotte pose for an American press scrum. We are left to imagine what will become of Charlotte who, as Fanny observes in both novel and adaptation cant speak or resist or move her little finger (James 2001: 535) by the end. Charlottes confidence is shaken by Maggies discovery of the affair and by Amerigos subsequent refusal to continue their adultery. Charlotte becomes increasingly desperate to renew her affair with Amerigo and tries to discover whether Adam knows of her infidelity. In the film, Maggie and Amerigo are presented as happy and reconciled, with Amerigo writing a letter to Maggie like a loverasking you to keep me, while the novel is deeply ambiguous, ending with a description of Maggie and Amerigo embracing and the words she had saved herself, and she got off. (James 2001: 569) To my mind, the ending of the novel implies that, despite everything, Maggie still loves Amerigo, but more than that, she also still desires him sexually: He was so near now that she could touch him, taste him, smell him, kiss him, hold him; he almost pressed upon her, and the warmth of his facefrowning, smiling, she mightnt know which; only beautiful and strange was bent upon her with the largeness with which objects loom in dreams. (James 2001: 568) The above passage describes Maggies gaze and her taking in of Amerigos physicality in detail. As mentioned earlier, Jeremy Northam as Amerigo is styled to resemble a Sargent portrait of the period and conforms to Claire Monks description of Merchant Ivorys non-violent pretext for looking guiltlessly at the male. This aestheticised rendering of Northams performance as Amerigo renders plausible the adaptations invented sequence of Amerigo writing to Maggie like a lover and the implication that she will, in time, forgive him. Through its inventive use of art to constitute Jamesian description and atmosphere, the adaptation of The Golden Bowl, interrogates the idea of a museum aesthetic of Englishness through its symbolic use of the Holbein painting, as well as the Orientalist motifs present in Charlottes Cleopatra costume and the ballet. These visual elements can be seen as a challenge to Andrew Higsons notion of a mummified, conservative sense of the past, particularly as it has been presented in other films by the Merchant Ivory team. This adaptation, like Jamess novel, places a particular narrative burden on art objects, imbuing them with a level of meaning that makes them essential to the narrative, and a rich source of interpretation. Ivorys adaptation of The Golden Bowl also shares a quality of visual richness with the other adaptations of James, Iain Softleys The Wings of the Dove and Jane Campions The Portrait of a Lady, constructing a symbolic economy of meaning from art objects that comprise the eloquent texture of contemporary classic novel film adaptations. Works Cited Baudrillard, Jean. The System of Objects. London: Verso, 2006. Black, J. Anderson and Madge Garland. A History of Fashion. New York: William Morrow and Company, 1975. Church Gibson, Pamela. Fewer Weddings and More Funerals: Changes in the Heritage Film. British Cinema of the 90s. Robert Murphy (Ed.) London: BFI Publishing, 2000 115-124. Fairbrother, Trevor. John Singer Sargent: The Sensualist. London: Yale University Press, 2000 Hall, Sheldon. The Wrong Sort of Cinema: Refashioning the Heritage Film Debate, in R. Murphy (ed.) The British Cinema Book. Second Edition. London: BFI 2001, pp. 191-199. Higson, Andrew. The Heritage Film and British Cinema. Dissolving Views: Key Writings on British Cinema. Ed. Andrew Higson. London: Cassell, 1996. 232-248. Higson, Andrew. English Heritage, English Cinema; Costume Drama since 1980. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003. Ivory, James. Imagining The Golden Bowl HYPERLINK "http://www.merchantivory.com/goldenbowl/ivory.html"http://www.merchantivory.com/goldenbowl/ivory.html James, Henry. The Golden Bowl. Toronto: Penguin Books, 2001. Koch, Sarah J. A Henry James Filmography. Henry James goes to the Movies. Ed. Susan M. Griffin. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2002 335-357. Orr, John. The Art of National Identity: Peter Greenaway and Derek Jarman. British Cinema, Past and Present. Eds. Justine Ashby and Andrew Higson. London: Routledge, 2000. 327-338. Person, Leland S. The Golden Film: Charlotte Stant and the Palace Guards The Henry James Review 23 (2002) 25-37. Stewart, Garrett. Citizen Adam: The Latest James Ivory and the Last Henry James The Henry James Review 23 (2002) 1-24. Studlar, Gaylyn. Out-Salomeing Salome: Dance, the New Woman, and Fan Magazine Orientalism. Visions of the East: Orientalism in Film. Eds. Matthew Bernstein and Gaylyn Studlar. London and New York: I.B. Tauris, 1997, pp.99-129. Tintner, Adeline. The Museum World of Henry James. Henry James: A Collection of Critical Essays. Ed. Leon Edel. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall Inc., 1963. 139-155. Wollen, Peter. Out of the Past: Fashion/Orientalism/The Body. Raiding the Icebox: Reflections on Twentieth Century Culture. Ed. Peter Wollen. London and New York: Verso, 1993 pp.1-34. Images and Films Cited The Golden Bowl. Dir. James Ivory. Lions Gate Films, 2000. The Portrait of a Lady. Dir. Jane Campion. Universal Pictures, 1996. The Wings of the Dove. Dir. Iain Softley. Miramax Films, 1997. Dr Samuel Jean Pozzi at Home. HYPERLINK "http://jssgallery.org/Paintings/Dr_Samuel_Jean_Pozzi_at_Home.htm"http://jssgallery.org/Paintings/Dr_Samuel_Jean_Pozzi_at_Home.htm Fumee dAmbre Gris (Smoke). HYPERLINK "http://jssgallery.org/Paintings/Smoke.htm"http://jssgallery.org/Paintings/Smoke.htm Henry James . HYPERLINK "http://www.jssgallery.org/Paintings/Henry_James.htm"http://www.jssgallery.org/Paintings/Henry_James.htm       The Golden Bowl takes place mostly in London within the first few years of the twentieth century. It concerns an American father and daughter, Adam and Maggie Verver and two lovers, the Italian Prince Amerigo and the American beauty Charlotte Stant. Amerigo becomes engaged to Maggie, and shortly before the wedding, Maggies school friend Charlotte appears. On a shopping trip for Maggies wedding present, Charlotte and Amerigo reminisce about their love affair in Rome, which ended because neither of them had any money. Charlotte still cares for Amerigo and begs for a last assignation before he marries, but he refuses. Maggie is also deeply in love with Amerigo, but worries for Adam, her widowed father, with whom she maintains a close relationship, even urging him to marry again, if only for companionship. Adam soon settles on Charlotte as a suitable second wife, although neither he nor his daughter are aware of the previous love affair. With Adam and Charlotte married, father and daughter soon gravitate back to their old habits, leaving Charlotte and Amerigo alone together. Charlotte rekindles the affair, which they conduct under the eyes of society. Maggie and Adam become increasingly suspicious of Amerigo and Charlotte. When Maggie discovers their past indiscretion, she urges her father to return to America to supervise construction of his museum to house his massive art collection, taking Charlotte with him. The story ends with Charlotte and Adam embarking for America, while Maggie and Amerigo remain in Europe.  Merchant Ivory adapted The Europeans in 1979 and The Bostonians in 1984. Their 1978 film Hullaballoo over Bonnie and Georgies Pictures is considered to be a loose adaptation of The Aspern Papers.(see Koch 341)  The object from which the story takes its name is in fact a large, gilded crystal goblet which is nearly chosen by Amerigo and Charlotte as a wedding present for Maggie, except that Amerigo sees the bowl is cracked and dissuades Charlotte from buying it. The shopping trip during which they nearly purchase the bowl is kept secret from Maggie and Adam, as it reveals Amerigo and Charlottes former status as lovers. Several years later, Maggie goes into the same shop and buys the bowl as a birthday present for her father. The shopkeeper relates to Maggie the story of the couple who nearly purchased the bowl several years ago, and when he delivers the bowl to Maggies home, he recognizes Charlotte and Amerigo from their photographs on display and tells Maggie this is the same couple. The bowl then fulfills its function as a kind of Pandoras box, confirming the suspicions that have been building in Maggies mind for months. Even when Fanny Assingham (the woman who introduced Amerigo and Maggie, but also knew of Amerigo and Charlottes relationship) smashes the bowl in an attempt to eradicate its symbolic importance, the knowledge it has revealed sets in motion the separation that ends the story.  See Imagining the Golden Bowl  Another full-length portrait of Henry VIII appears in Shekar Kapurs Elizabeth in a scene where the young queen, played by Cate Blanchett, is struggling to learn how to rule. She kneels in front of this portrait, initially cowed by the demeanour of her male councilors, but soon rises proudly declaring herself to be her fathers daughter I am not afraid of anything, she says. This same painting that symbolizes Elizabeths strength and heritage, is also the symbol of Charlottes oppression in marriage.  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