It’s “back to school” in northern Virginia (and everywhere),
and the Merchant Ivory 1984 period drama “The Bostonians” made me imagine I was
subbing again for a long block period, perhaps in front of an AP English
(junior year, American literature), or American History class. A teacher could ask the “kids” to compare the
Henry James novel to the movie. Remember
all those reading quizzes and video worksheets?
In the 1870’s, Basil Ransom (Christopher Reeve, outside his
Superman role and long before his injury), a conservative lawyer from
Mississippi, meets feminist speaker Verena Tarrant (Madelaine Potter), when his
cousin Olive (Vanessa Redgrave) takes him to a political meeting. Basil gradually falls in love with Verena, to
the dismay of Olive, who mentors Verena.
The various speeches and discussions do brush against the
way men feared women’s suffrage – their fear that women would not “need” them.
The music score is glorious.
The film opens with a pipe organ playing “America the Beautiful” and “God
of our Fathers”. (It reminds me of the
conclusion of “A Canterbury Tale”.) Music from the Brahms German Requiem appears,
as does a prelude from Wagner’s Lohengrin, and a Mendelssohn Song Without
Words. In the climax sequence, another lecture, the organist plays a transcription of Von Suppe's "Poet and Peasant Overture", which does sound strange on the organ. It was a favorite record early in my life.
Wallace Shawn (“My Dinner with Andre”), Linda Hunt (“The
Year of Living Dangerously”) and Jessica Tandy also star.
James Ivory also gives a brief talk on the DVD (Criterion), about going
independent, and he mentions the subtle possible lesbianism in a couple of
scenes.
The film is a nice one to watch soon after "The Butler".
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