Customer Reviews

Basil [VHS]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Based on Wilkie Collins' 1852 novel, "Basil" stars Jared Leto as the hero of the title. Basil, son of rich and aristcratic father Derek Jacobi, falls in love with beautiful but mystrious girl Julia (Claire Forlani). The problem is, Basil knew that his stern father would never acknowledge the daughter of merchant as his future bride, so in spite of his better judgment and advice from his friend Manion (Christian Slater), he continues his relations a secret until terrible truth is found out.

As is with many Collins' novels, the story is melodramatic and full of surprises, but the film seems to be too full of them. Every five minute you see something happen, which is certainly enjoyable. However, as far as emotional power goes, "Basil" is far from convincing. When the film should be sensual, it fails to be so, leaping to the next scene without raising the tension that should have come from, say, the clandestine meetings between Basil and Julia. There is no thrilling descriptions of ever-changing love and distrust found in works like "Wings of the Dove." The same can be said about the frail father-son relation in Basil's family, which should have been more explored.

My material says the writer/director Radha Bharadwaj (known for Madeleine Stowe film "Closet Land") was very impressed with the original book when she was 12 years old. Born and raised in India, the director clearly is conscious of social class and gender, so the book's thriller part is reduced to certain degree, and instead the contrast between men and women, or traditional aristocracy and new middle-class is stressed.

Her decision is understandable, but I don't know if it was a good idea to adapt the novel that way. And you should know that "Basil" is usually considered as one of Wilkie's juvenile works (only his second novel published during his lifetime) His major works are still "The Moonstone" or "The Woman in White" both of which are filmed in 1990s for British TV. So why "Basil"? That part remains vague after watching the film.

The best thing in the film is no doubt Claire Forlani. But her fans should be told beforehand that though Ms. Forlani in blue costume (standing besides beautiful birds) is gorgeous and exquisite, her charms do not materialize to the full because of too fast speed of story. Chrstian Slater (who also co-produced) and Jared Leto are not so bad, handsome as ever, but it is painfully obvious that they are Americans.

One final word for Collins fans. Don't get angry. The film takes GREAT liberty when it shows Clara not as Basil's sister; when Margaret Sherwin is changed to Julia Sherwin (does this mean that 'Margaret' is no longer a popular name?); and when Manion walks outside without a hat on his head even though you know that no confidential clerk of respectable merchant does that.

As Victorian constume drama "Basil" is just a so-so film. You don't have to hurry to watch it.

Basil's elder brother Ralph is played by Crispin Bonham Carter, cousin of Helena.

Anyone who likes Wilkie Collins (author of "The Moonstone" and "The Woman in White" and a friend to Dickens) knows that he is in store for a Victorian melodrama mystery with all the trimmings. This film definitely had the trimmings -- lush sets and gorgeous scenery, plus two notable acting performances from Christian Slater and Derek Jacobi. However, the writer-director falls down in several areas. First of all the script has a number of 20th Century anachronisms/cliches, i.e., "It makes me feel cheap." The leading man, Jared Leto, is attractive but emotionally lackluster, almost in a trancelike state -- a real problem since he appears in most scenes. Nor is there much chemistry between him and anyone else. Claire Forlani as his love interest is pretty emotionally dead herself, and I strongly suspect the fault is not altogether hers, but the writer-director's. The editing could be sharper, the pacing tighter -- in short, with a few cast changes, a different director, and a few rewrites, this movie might have delivered more of its many promises.

I thought BASIL was an intriguing film - a classical tale of revenge gone wrong. I couldn't figure out why it was rated R though, since there are no sex scenes, and less violence than what is found in most contemporary films.

I didn't find it dull at all, so I guess I will be one of the few people who thoroughly enjoyed this film. Christian Slater did a fine job - as usual, and I found the ending to be sweet.

Had the lead character found someone to love, I would have given the movie 5 stars.

Claire Forlani is starting to get the recognition she deserves, she was sooo good in Meet Joe Black. She and Leto have really good chemistry and some sexy scenes. If you like Forlani, Slater, or Jared Leto, watch this movie.

I wanted bad to like this movie. I am a huge fan of Slater and Forlani. I saw this movie when it came out (I was 14) and was confused by it and didn't particularly like it, but obviously didn't form a solid opinion of the movie because I rented it again this week to see why I still didn't have an opinion of it. Now I know why.

The "mystery" of the film (spoilers below) has very little to do with the movie itself. I read in another review that this film is about "revenge gone wrong" when in fact this film is about revenge never happening! The movie provides an endless list of questions that are never answered.

Why is Basil so ridiculously gullible and naive to the point where you're just plain embarrassed for him?

How more could the director possibly spoil his own "mystery" with the cut rope near the beginning and Julia's constant hesitations with Basil?

How pathetic is John Manyan's character (big spoiler alert here) to spend his entire life building up to something only to completely give up on it at the last moment for no obvious reason? Nice justice he brought his father.

Why do Basil and his brother keep in no contact whatsoever? They appear to be very close early on, and then when sent away, Basil makes no attempts to reconnect with his brother at all. Clearly he has a desire for a male friend- as this movie takes great pains to point out in his strong and quickly made friendship with John Manyan. Travel is no issue for Basil- he makes excuses to go to London to see Manyan. Why would he not go see his brother?

Can Basil's father be any more one-dimensional and any less convincing as a character? We keep getting this stupid line about "such-and-such knows their place" trying to label him as being so stuck up it's the only thing we know about him. It is so unbelievable that a character who is only identifiable by one characteristic should completely change who he is at the end of the film (especially when this has happened off-screen).

What are we supposed to feel for the father at the end of the film other than the fact that he ruined many lives and no one took their revenge on him? He gets away with what he has done, and the audience is supposed to somehow find this a "happy ending".

Nothing is resolved, and we don't understand several of the main characters. Clara, the only sympathetic character in the film, never once challenges her foster father's cruelness, and so transitions to just pathetic. At least Manyan had ambition, though unrealized.

I actually laughed when the credits rolled after Basil said he wanted to stay and live with his dad.

What a waste of everyone's time and talent.

Basil (Radha Bharadwaj, 1998)

After Closetland, I considered Radha Bharadwaj one of the best directors I'd ever seen put images on film. Then... nothing. For seven years, nothing. And then came Basil, about as different a film from Closetland as it is possible to imagine. (And there has been nothing in the nine years since.)

Based on a Wilkie Collins novel, Basil is the story of, well, Basil (Jared Leto), an aristocrat whose father (Derek Jacobi, whose character is never named in the film) is an overbearing, class-obsessed bonehead. We see some stuff about Basil's young (read: played by someone younger than Jared Leto) life, then get into the meat of the story-- Basil, whose only friend is foundling Clara (Rachel Pickup), taken in by Basil's family at a young age, is rescued after injuring his ankle in a fall by John Mannion (Christian Slater). The two of them become close, and Basil ends up falling for Julia (Claire Forlani), the daughter of Mannion's employer. Julia may not be so sure about Basil, but she certainly likes his money...

The most interesting thing about Basil is Clara, who is an artifact of an earlier time; while Basil (and his contemporaries in so many Victorian novels) are off pursuing the women who are bad for them, there's the lovely childhood friend waiting at home who these guys simply never notice. In a rather Tristan-and-Isolde move, we even get blonde Clara and raven-haired Julia. Oh, the symbolism. By saying this, though, I don't mean to denigrate the movie, nor the novel on which it is based; this is the kind of thing that passed for melodrama in the Victorian novel. It's stupidly fun, and one has to assume Bharadwaj offers the heavy-handed symbolism in the spirit in which it was originally offered.

More problematic is listening to both Leto and Slater try and fumble their ways through their particular accents. Oddly, it's Leto, who at the time was a rising star (he was still a couple of years away from the trilogy of films that would make his name-- The Thin Red Line, Fight Club, and Requiem for a Dream), who seems to have less of a problem with it; he dons the accent, and the mantle, of the aristocrat without terribly much trouble, while established star Slater never quite manages to play the lower-class wage slave convincingly. (And, while it's impossible to give details without major spoilers, yes, I do realize there's a reason for that, but all that does is shift the blame from one party to another.)

Still, minor casting problems aside, I enjoyed this for what it is; a drama of manners, a lightweight mystery. I've never been a big fan of the Merchant-Ivory Victorian costume dramas that were all the rage for a decade or so; maybe, as it turns out, I just needed another director at the helm. *** ½

Basil, (Leto) is a sequestered young Englishman, with modest knowledge of life when he meets Manion, (Slater) who opens the remarkable, seductive entryway of both living and passion to the easily influenced Basil.

Fast-paced in an enervated way, the opening is startling one dimensional enough to be painful. Mercifully, it gathers momentum and becomes if not intriguing, certainly, not characterless or tedious.

Slater, is suitable; Leto comes with a certain distance wholly appropriate for the part. Foriani (Julia) was capable enough for me to want to throttle her character...a very good sign I'd say.

Clearly, the tempo was off, nonetheless, as the plot unfolded (for those of us who haven't read the book)'Basil' becomes more low-key melodrama and middle-end gothic, in very pleasing and agreeable way, as the threads of the narrative are sorted out.

I was quite keen on 'Basil'.

I haven't read this Wilkie Collins story, but I found it intriguing and for the most part enjoyed it. The one problem I had was with Christian Slater. I am a big fan of Slater but this was a terrible miscast. Instead of a turn-of-the-century English man, he was obviously a modern American. Just didn't work - that surprised me.

I think anyone who enjoys period-piece dramas will enjoy this film, though.

This was a lush period piece based on the Wilkie Collins book. Not a bad actor in it, especially Derek Jacobi, whom I consider one of the greatest Shakespearan actors along side Sir Lawrence Oliver and Kenneth Branaugh. Jared Leto was convincing as the naive, innocent and sheltered aristocratic son of Derek Jacobi with Christian Slater as the friendly stranger who befriends Basil only to set him up. My only criticism of the film would be the editing -- it seemed piece-y to me and didn't transition well between seens. Other than that I found the film most enjoyable and would recommend it to period films, Collins' fans or fans of any of the actors involved in the movie.

As an avid fan of Wilkie Collins, I knew from the start that this film would have a tragic twist. I was not disappointed! Although the film was not a blockbuster and certainly not a typical Victorian love story, it is a lavish production and contained enough twists and turns to keep me guessing to the end. It was worth the price to watch Christian Slater, Clare Forlani and Jared Leto. If any of the aforementioned actors lacked luster on the screen, I suspect it had more to do with the script's variance from Wilkie Collins novel. All in all, for period drama affecionados with an open mind, this film would be a welcome addition in any video library.