Quick Movie Reviews
Rating of
2/4
Indyfreak - wrote on 12/24/2014
When it comes to historical dramas, the popular opinion is that they're drab, stuffy, and pretentious. Despite its impressive cast and a script echoing classics like Casablanca, "The White Countess" does its genre no favors at all. Its climactic depiction of Western citizens fleeing Shanghai after the Japanese invade is well-staged and the only sequence worth watching because it's the one time that this movie shows sign of a pulse. It's nuanced performances are to the point of creative castration but Ralph Fiennes and Natasha Richardson give it their best shot. There are better ways to be introduced to Merchant-Ivory films than this, I'm sure. Wish I picked something more renowned like "A Room with a View" or "Howard's End".
