Washington Square Review

William Wyler`s 1949 film The Heiress has always been one of my favourites. It was based on a stageplay from Henry James` novel Washington Square and starred Olivia de Havilland, Ralph Richardson and Montgomery Clift. When I heard there was a remake with Jennifer Jason Leigh in the lead, I thought what a problematic casting decision. Which only goes to show how open-minded you ought to be with movies. This classic melodrama about the power of money over love begins with the birth of Catherine Sloper, an event that causes the death of her mother which her father Dr. Austin Sloper finds hard to forgive. This creates a classic scenario of her wanting to please him and win his love and approval and him all too ready to see her faults. Catherine develops into an ungainly young woman of dubious fashion sense. When she meets Morris Townsend, a handsome young man of no fortune, she can`t at first believe his apparent attraction. But then she does believe it and she blossoms. But her father can`t believe anyone could want Catherine for herself, Morris must want her for her money...At the end of the film you realise that you haven`t been so concerned about what happens as why it happens. Teasing out the motivations of the three central characters delves into primal territory of need and gratification, of power and selfishness, of cruelty and individual strength. The casting of two often very mannered performers - Jennifer Jason Leigh as Catherine and Albert Finney as her father - was surprisingly successful. I did miss Ralph Richardson`s icy cruelty from the original but Jennifer Jason Leigh gives a depth to Catherine that is valuable. Ben Chaplin also brings complexity to the character of Morris although Maggie Smith`s Aunt Lavinia is a little bit too broadly drawn for my taste. My qualms about the film lie in Agnieszka Holland`s direction which at times lacks subtlety, detracting from some of the story`s more powerful moments. Washington Square gains from going back to James` original novel for the adaptation, this has given this powerful story another dimension which I really appreciated.