The movie brought about memories of At Play in the Fields of the Lord (1991)primarily because both are set in the jungle and both have top notch actresses willing to look awful on screen. The title and the fact Olympia Dukakis was in the movie prompted me to rent it and I am glad I did. I didn't recognize Olympia Dukakis as Erina. Totally void of any complimentary makeup and wardrobe Miss Dukakis provided a performance which I feel is one of her best. Brenda Fricker also provides a great performance as Mrs. Jones. I am not too familiar with Janet McTeer but applaud her performance and willingness to appear naked and in such dreadful makeup. Tony Maudsley and JJ Feild round out the cast and compliment the story well. The movie is slow as molasses which can be a good break from all the fast paced stuff today. I did find myself wondering when these characters got around to bathing. Oh, beware the nude backside of the minister!
5 Reviews
A bit of a slow-moving film
smatysia10 December 2009
A bit of a slow-moving film. A nice period piece, set in a remote trading post in Nineteen-Twenties Malaysia. It is sort of a study of isolation, as the route in or out is closed half of the year until the monsoon rains raise the river level enough for boat traffic. Many of the characters are quite odd, and more than a little creepy. The actors seem to have played these parts well. I wouldn't have recognized Olypia Dukakis if I hadn't known she was in the cast, and she played the not-too-bright Russian housekeeper/nanny pretty well. The star, Janet McTeer, with whom I was not familiar, played the forty-ish consort of a 28-ish surveyor/engineer, very, very well. She bravely looked less attractive than she could be, to match the period and setting.
Hunting for ivory in the Malaysian jungle
jotix1001 July 2006
Warning: Spoilers
Sarah Morris, who is the intended bride of Hamish Winslow, decides to accompany him to the Malaysian outpost in the jungle before they tie the knot. Sarah, finds out, in the worst way, the horrors of being in that isolated spot, where she awakens a passion on a lonely man whose sexual appetite she awakens.
The post is run with an iron hand by an English woman, Mrs. Jones, who has a creepy son, William. He begins spying on Sarah through cracks in the hut where she and Hamish are staying. This lonely man sees the attractive Sarah as a sex object that he craves. William goes berserk when he finds out his own mother has someone else in mind to succeed her in running the business.
As another contributor has remarked, this film, although different, seems to recall another one, "At Play in the Fields of the Lord" because its exotic setting and oppressive atmosphere. Sarah and Hamish feel they are not welcomed in this tight knit group from the start. The film ends with a surprising turn of events.
Having seen Janet McTeer act in the theater, both here and in London, and having admired her work, we decided to take a look at "The Intended", which was co-written by Ms. McTeer and director Kristian Levring. Ms. McTeer's Sarah goes through a great transformation in the remote outpost and the dynamics that bonded her and Hamish Winslow are put to a test.
The rest of the cast does a good job to convey the isolation and frustration they experience in that remote area where they encounter themselves. Brenda Fricker, Tony Maudsley, J J Field, Philip Jackson and an almost unrecognizable Olympia Dukakis, do justice to the story.
The film is slow as molasses. Perhaps some cutting would have helped to make the film achieve better results because it certainly had the potential and a great actress, Janet McTeer to hold the viewer's undivided attention.
The post is run with an iron hand by an English woman, Mrs. Jones, who has a creepy son, William. He begins spying on Sarah through cracks in the hut where she and Hamish are staying. This lonely man sees the attractive Sarah as a sex object that he craves. William goes berserk when he finds out his own mother has someone else in mind to succeed her in running the business.
As another contributor has remarked, this film, although different, seems to recall another one, "At Play in the Fields of the Lord" because its exotic setting and oppressive atmosphere. Sarah and Hamish feel they are not welcomed in this tight knit group from the start. The film ends with a surprising turn of events.
Having seen Janet McTeer act in the theater, both here and in London, and having admired her work, we decided to take a look at "The Intended", which was co-written by Ms. McTeer and director Kristian Levring. Ms. McTeer's Sarah goes through a great transformation in the remote outpost and the dynamics that bonded her and Hamish Winslow are put to a test.
The rest of the cast does a good job to convey the isolation and frustration they experience in that remote area where they encounter themselves. Brenda Fricker, Tony Maudsley, J J Field, Philip Jackson and an almost unrecognizable Olympia Dukakis, do justice to the story.
The film is slow as molasses. Perhaps some cutting would have helped to make the film achieve better results because it certainly had the potential and a great actress, Janet McTeer to hold the viewer's undivided attention.
Imperial madness
rowmorg1 March 2005
Warning: Spoilers
Verging often on the brink of farce, this film just manages to remain a believable drama, and packs a certain punch in the third act.
On the way, it has to survive one of those difficult "retarded son" roles, with him skulking about peering through windows, failing to confront his dominant mother and receiving hand-jobs from his old nurse. This part bodes ill for the film until a peculiarly hideous murder ends act one, releases the son from his bondage, allowing him to become fairly normal.
SPOILERS HERE In act two the lovers are parted by duty and their bond is tested. In act three, they are reunited, but he is stricken with a mysterious coma. Desperate to buy his way to the coast and a doctor, she submits to the perverted will of the nurse and has sexual intercourse with the villain (female superior position), to her horror achieving her first=ever orgasm thereby.
Emerging from her confusing ordeal (is she radiant with gratification or utterly soiled? we aren't too sure) clutching her money, she finds that her lover has overheard her ecstatic yelps and is bleary with weeping, because, as we witnessed earlier, she has never climaxed with him, even in the tropical heat.
After a row about money, a second huge wad of dough is destroyed and the couple heads back to the coast older and wiser.
It's an overheated yarn, apparently built with an eye on the popcorn crowd, but delivered in a ponderous, Bergmanesque manner that dooms it to the art circuit.
Good performances save the film from a script that contains the line: "It's sick", an anachronism belonging in California in the 19 sicksties.
On the way, it has to survive one of those difficult "retarded son" roles, with him skulking about peering through windows, failing to confront his dominant mother and receiving hand-jobs from his old nurse. This part bodes ill for the film until a peculiarly hideous murder ends act one, releases the son from his bondage, allowing him to become fairly normal.
SPOILERS HERE In act two the lovers are parted by duty and their bond is tested. In act three, they are reunited, but he is stricken with a mysterious coma. Desperate to buy his way to the coast and a doctor, she submits to the perverted will of the nurse and has sexual intercourse with the villain (female superior position), to her horror achieving her first=ever orgasm thereby.
Emerging from her confusing ordeal (is she radiant with gratification or utterly soiled? we aren't too sure) clutching her money, she finds that her lover has overheard her ecstatic yelps and is bleary with weeping, because, as we witnessed earlier, she has never climaxed with him, even in the tropical heat.
After a row about money, a second huge wad of dough is destroyed and the couple heads back to the coast older and wiser.
It's an overheated yarn, apparently built with an eye on the popcorn crowd, but delivered in a ponderous, Bergmanesque manner that dooms it to the art circuit.
Good performances save the film from a script that contains the line: "It's sick", an anachronism belonging in California in the 19 sicksties.
Tense to the end - enthralling.
mert404 June 2006
Saw this movie on cable. Initially looked dull, but drew me into the story with its unnerving, dark intensity and sense of something horrible coming at any moment. It casts a morbid spell that makes it hard to look away. Spellbinding is not an over statement - almost hypnotic in its attraction. The cast was superb. Olympia Dukakis seemed to be the well of emotions and is consumed in this dance of insanity and death in a steaming jungle. Relationships were played out to a dreadful completeness. The next unspeakable horror became expected, but never quite predictable. No, predictable is not part of the story line. A horrible side of humanity certainty is. I gave it a 9 out of 10.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
