Vasto Mar de Sargaços

A young woman (Karina Lombard) marries an Englishman (Nathaniel Parker) in mid-1800s' Jamaica to save her plantation. Rachel Ward plays her mother, Michael York her stepfather and Martine Beswick her aunt, all three being small roles.

"Wide Sargasso Sea" (1993) is an adult-oriented historical drama that's a quasi-prequel to "Jane Eyre." I say "quasi" because the 1966 novel the movie was based on was written by Jean Rhys 119 years after the release of Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre" in 1847. In other words, "Wide Sargasso Sea" is Rhys' proposed prequel of that famous story, not the official one.

The movie works better if you are familiar with "Jane Eyre," but it's not absolutely necessary. Naturally, "Wide Sargasso Sea" gives you a better understanding of what's happening in "Jane Eyre," which has been made into several movies, e.g. the 1970 version with George C. Scott & Susannah York, which is the only version I've seen.

The best thing about this movie is the setting, cast and style. It successfully takes you back in time to Jamaica circa early 1850s. The two protagonists are thoroughly convincing, as are Claudia Robinson as Antoinette's nurse, an obeah (voodoo) witch, and Rowena King as Amelie, an island girl who thinks she's hotter than she is. Really, the whole cast rises to the challenge.

There's a revolt by ex-slaves in the first act that's both realistic and harrowing. The story gets brighter with Antoinette & Edward's honeymoon, but takes a dark turn in the second half. I didn't feel there was enough cause to justify Edward's metamorphosis. The filmmakers' should've made this clearer. There's a measure of ugliness with the last half being downbeat. If you can handle that, it's worth checking out. It basically mixes Brando's "Burn!" (1969) with "The Piano" (1993) and "Sirens" (1994), the latter two debuting within a year after this one.

The film runs 1 hour and 38 minutes and was shot in Jamaica with a small bit in England.

GRADE: B-

I think that there seem to be some confusion expressed in a number of the reviews of this and a subsequent version of Jean Rhys' most famous novel. Just for information:

1. Creole does not necessarily imply mixed race. Bertha (to use Rochester's name for her) was clearly white enough to appear white and indeed, like Jean Rhys herself, may have been entirely of European ancestry. The mixed race brother, Daniel, was black on his mother's side which has nothing to do with Bertha's mother being mostly/entirely French. He was angry and destructive because his father preferred the white daughter to him.

2. The Wide Sargosso Sea is a sort of prequel but it is also a re-imagining of the back story for Jane Eyre that is intended to take Bertha's character and expand on it with Rhys inability to ever fully reconcile herself to the differences between her origins and life in Europe.

3. While we think of the Caribbean as a dominantly black environment, the origins were Carib Indian and whites colonized the area before the introduction of African slaves. The racial undertone is a more modern view than Bronte likely had. She was trying to deal with the whole idea of foreignness/strangeness and the ultimate solution to the plight of Jane's situation, poor but of "gentle" birth.

4. Of the two filmed versions, the first makes the characters too physically attractive and really misses the novel's stress on the protagonists never meshing rather than loving and losing love.

5. One problem with the casting of Rochester in the first version is that the actor portraying Rochester is distractingly gorgeous and not sufficiently British (apart from his accent). In fact he looks like he rather fits in, in contrast to Bertha's uncle and the other European planters. Of course, the actress who portrays Bertha, even at the end, is so enticing that Rochester's loss of interest is inexplicable.

6. The first film seems to run out of time and rushes the end. Not enough is made of Rochester's anger at being manipulated, whether by voodoo, drugs or circumstances. Once he becomes his father's heir, the return to England should have led to something other than the conclusion. There is definitely insufficient deterioration in Bertha. Their stories are mirror images. He deteriorates and is miserable where she is able to live and she deteriorates where he is able to live.

7. The novels (both Jane Eyre and The Wide Sargosso Sea) have a great deal of narration which is lost in the earlier film and perhaps insufficient in the second. None of the films are substitutes for the books but all are interesting reimaginings.

8. In order to appreciate the Rhys novel, one should read about the author. The same is true of Jane Eyre and its author. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Finally, while not great, the films both aspire to be literary, which means a lot in an age when filmmakers think there is a need for horror/splatter movies and lots of people apparently agree so I for one say thank you for both versions of the Wide Sargosso Sea and all of the versions of Jane Eyre that offer relief from the current tripe.

The Wide Sargasso Sea is one of the most beautiful books ever written. Following a string of only mildly successful novels and short stories, Rhys disappeared off the radar, and many believed her dead. She was discovered years later living in seclusion on the south of England. Throughout her house were numerous manuscripts forming what became The Wide Sargasso Sea. The novel was a labour of love for Rhys in a sense, but despite the critical acclaim it received she described the success as (I paraphrase) too little too late.

Rhys' novel details the relationship between the Rochester of Jane Eyre and Antoinette, his first wife. The novel, however, is not truly about this. The true importance of the story is the oppression of Antoinette by her husband and society as a whole. She is a Creole: inherently hot blooded and passionate. Rochester cannot handle this aspect of her nature, and attempts to remove it from her but cannot; it is inherent.

The film suggests that Anotinette descends into madness. This is not what Rhys wished to demonstrate. Antoinette never went insane, but rather the anger if her treatment at the hands of Rochester drove her to an act of rashness, but not madness. In her actions at the end of the film, Antoinette is not losing control, but rather regaining it.

This is lost in the film. The beautiful story is diminished considerably. The first two sections of the novel are reduced to 10 minutes, making the whole plot seem rushed. This was, it would appear, to make was for as much gratuitous nudity as possible.

All that redeems the film (and the only reason I rated it a 3 and not a 1) is the beautiful depiction of the scenery. I suggest people who have read the book avoid the film, and those interested in both stick to the novel and stay well away from this.

"Wide Sargasso Sea" is a very elegant, sexy, melodrama about the meaning of love. Young Creole girl Antoinette Conway is married to Englishman Edward Rochester, and the two move to her coastal home in Jamaica. Seeds of doubt are placed in Edward's mind by servants a mysterious man sending letters about Antoinette's mother, who went insane, and Edward fears that Antoinette, like her mother, will go mad. He turns a cold shoulder towards her, and unknowingly destroys his wife. Kinda slow, but worth it, it makes you think and has the feel of a gothic potboiler.

"Wide Sargasso Sea" is Unrated for graphic sexuality and nudity.

NOTE: "Wide Sargasso Sea" is available in R-Rated and Unrated versions. The R-Rated version trims out two minutes of sex scenes, while the Unrated versions keeps them in.

Sumptuous-looking, beautifully photographed, meticulously produced....this movie seems to do everything right visually. But its story, very engaging in the first half, runs out of steam in the second. Story points and character motivations are often muddled, and I never got a complete and clear idea of where and when exactly the passionate love affair between the two basic characters started to go wrong. And yes, it is sometimes erotic (mostly thanks to the very beautiful Karina Lombard), but it never becomes as steamy as you may have heard. (**1/2)