From the esteemed team of Merchant-Ivory comes this witless piece of film-making, a sad denouement to its legacy of several quality, beautifully-crafted films produced over the past two decades.
How could any film with such a wealth of talent comprised of some of the greatest actors in the English-speaking world end up as little more than a B movie with a senseless plot, characters that are only partially drawn and a script with atrocious dialogue is a mystery to me? Lynne Redgrave overacts to the point of embarrassment. Natasha Richardson whines and bemoans her lot in life completely unconvincingly and Ralph Fiennes merely mumbles unmemorable lines with yawing boredom.
The audience is expected to believe the unbelievable. That in the midst of the Japanaese invasion of Shangahi a blind man (Mr. Finnes) can not only find his way about the streets but also everyone he is looking for as he is battered and jostled about first one way and then another by thousands of people fleeing for their lives is simply too preposterous to believe.
The production values which in past Merchant-Ivory films played such a critical role in establishing and confirming time and place are simply dreadful.I can only assume that this film had a budget of $1.99.
This is a film is search of itself let alone an audience and not even worthy of a life on DVD!
How could any film with such a wealth of talent comprised of some of the greatest actors in the English-speaking world end up as little more than a B movie with a senseless plot, characters that are only partially drawn and a script with atrocious dialogue is a mystery to me? Lynne Redgrave overacts to the point of embarrassment. Natasha Richardson whines and bemoans her lot in life completely unconvincingly and Ralph Fiennes merely mumbles unmemorable lines with yawing boredom.
The audience is expected to believe the unbelievable. That in the midst of the Japanaese invasion of Shangahi a blind man (Mr. Finnes) can not only find his way about the streets but also everyone he is looking for as he is battered and jostled about first one way and then another by thousands of people fleeing for their lives is simply too preposterous to believe.
The production values which in past Merchant-Ivory films played such a critical role in establishing and confirming time and place are simply dreadful.I can only assume that this film had a budget of $1.99.
This is a film is search of itself let alone an audience and not even worthy of a life on DVD!