1995, 117 min
A.K.A.: Angels and Insects
Country: US, Great Britain
Studio: MGM
Cast: Mark Rylance, Patsy Kensit, Kristin Scott Thomas, Jeremy Kemp, Douglas Henshall
Director: Philip Haas
Screenwriter: Belinda Haas, Philip Haas
Our Rating:
Angels & Insects
SKINOPSISPositively gorgeous Patsy Kensit (at the height of her lusciousness) shows her beautiful A-cups and her bushy English garden in this romantic drama about a poor naturalist who is taken by a wealthy English family.3 REASONS TO BUY THIS FILM
REVIEW
A marvelously twisted, psycho-sexual period piece that examines not only the class inequities, but the repressed sexual mores of Victorian society -- as if Sense and Sensibility had been interpreted by Peter Greenaway. The story (based on A.S. Byatt's novella "Morpho Eugenia") revolves around William Adamson (Rylance), a low-born entomologist who specializes in rare tropical butterflies and moths. Adamson lands a position at the manor of Sir Harold Alabaster (Kemp) where he catalogs his employer's collection of zoological specimens as well as tutors his children. He falls in love with Alabaster's emotionally reserved daughter Eugenia (Kensit) despite the obvious attraction between him and the family's outgoing and well-educated niece Matty (an engaging Scott Thomas). Dark family secrets lurk in the background, however, giving everything in the film an overriding sense of dread. Haas sustains a visually striking and emotionally haunting narrative that effectively uses its protaganist's fascination with insects as a metaphor for human interaction. You Might Also Like
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