Before The Others, before The Hours, before Dogville, Moulin Rouge, Birth and all those movies in which Nicole Kidman earned great respect in the film industry, there was The Portrait of a Lady. Yet, after watching this film, being a big Nicole Kidman fan, I feel deprived for not having the resources to check out some of her older movies, like To Die For, Malice, Dead Calm and Days of Thunder, in which she also grabbed acclaimed performances in it. Especially in the film To Die For; as what I read, the character she portrayed in that film has become an iconic role.
Anyway, back to The Portrait of a Lady, this is a good adaption of the book. Well, I haven't read the book, but judging by the film itself, I could say that it's a good one. Now let me tell you viewers straight, this film is not for all. Some may find it boring, some may find it interesting and some may just lose their temper and bang their VCR shut. Well for me, it's a balance between good and bad. Good because, hell, Nicole Kidman sparks like a shining mystery in this film. She's bloody good and she had given a strong but at the same time vulnerable performance as the haunted Isabel, whose definition of happiness is about sacrifice. Bad because there's some scenes which really drags and just make you feel as if you just swallowed a sleeping pill. But in the essence, it has a good story; one that captivates you at the beginning, bores you at the middle, and then grabs your throat at the ending. Performances by John Malkovich and Barbara Hershey were equally astounding. As Barbara was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in Oscars that time. The story was what classics are made of. It really paints a portrait of a woman, full of dreams, ambitions and when she gives her all, there she starts to ask about happiness and contentment. Some people may find it ridiculous because Jane Campion, the director, was able to give out the essence of being a woman, the light and the dark side of it. Oh by the way, Christian Bale was also featured here as the young noble who fell in love to Isabel's step-daughter. It's about suffering and sacrifice, turning away from love, using your brain instead of heart, yet at the end the dawn of realisation would suddenly strike you like a bolt of lightning, hitting you severely like what happened to Isabel. Nicole Kidman is fabulous.

Rating: B+