La comtesse blanche

aesthetic delight. impressive cast. inspired story. and slice of a dark history presented with precise, delicate grace. but all is a impressive collection of ice pieces. like in a theater play in which words, gestures and relations between characters are only fragments of reality sketches. the vision of Ivory is not a surprise and the hard work of actors to maintain a large construction is admirable. but the film, full of real virtues, has not soul. it is only a marble statue who impress, enjoy, but nothing more. the viewer is only a museum visitor. is it enough ? maybe not. but it is not fair to consider it a disappointment. only example of cold beauty and new demonstration of Ivory art.

The poignancy of this movie outweighs any shortcomings in the directorial department. I found myself immersed in the milieu of 1930's ShangHai, a place and time I had only read of and subsequently wondered about. The real strength of this movie is the accessibility with which powerful emotion is portrayed. I found I had real empathy for the characters. The characters were played superbly by one of the most pedigreed casts I've seen in a while. The pace was slow, but measured and well-suited to the plot. Ralph Fiennes was a convincing lead -- the image of him reminds me of TS Eliot mixed with Rick Blaine (Casablanca). Natasha Richardson is brilliant in this role. Understated and quite believable. All in all a beautiful, other worldly movie, and not for the faint-hearted.

I was caught up in this film from the very beginning. For me, Richardson's performance is Oscar-worthy and Fiennes does a credible job as a recently blind diplomat doing his best to hide from the realities of the world by creating a world of his own. This film could be considered "Casablanca" turned on its head, where people of all different races and religions and beliefs come together at a nexus of great social turmoil, and the story of two small people doesn't amount a hill of beans to anyone but us, the audience. The White Countess is one of my favorite films of 2005. And I have to admit I'm not much of a Merchant-Ivory fan, but this one was truly exceptional.