This artistically bold and moving film, directed by Jane Campion, who won an Academy Award for her direction of The Piano, is a creative adaptation of the novel by Henry James.

Portrait of a Lady depicts how a young American woman (Nicole Kidman) tries to find herself and her place in the world of grand old England. In the process she examines her feelings about men, marriage and emotional attachments.

Isabel is torn in several directions and experiences hauntingly portrayed fantasies. Lord Warburton (Richard E. Grant) is the man Isabel rejects, somewhat high-handedly, in order to marry Gilbert Osmond, a self-absorbed posturer played by John Malkovitch.

This is the second film in which Campion deals with the intensity of a woman's desires and dilemmas and she touches very deep and sensual territory.

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