40
Remote, murky and interminable.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
50
San Francisco Examiner by Barbara Shulgasser
A harmeless concoction.
75
Christian Science Monitor by David Sterritt
A splendid adaptation that will be hard for the others to match. The Portrait of a Lady, directed by Jane Campion, brings intelligence and sensitivity to a story rich in psychological subtlety and sociological detail.
50
San Francisco Chronicle by Edward Guthmann
The Portrait of a Lady is a huge disappointment. It's a deliberately arty, overly formal exercise in emotional terrorism.
75
ReelViews by James Berardinelli
A fascinating portrait not only of a lady, but of the society and marriage that entrap, then attempt to destroy, her.
30
Chicago Reader by Jonathan Rosenbaum
[An] unsatisfying mess.
70
Los Angeles Times by Kenneth Turan
The Portrait of a Lady may not be up to this high standard, but it is never less than absorbing either.
67
Entertainment Weekly by Lisa Schwarzbaum
In aiming for a new kind of lit-drama cool, Jane Campion freezes the warmth right out of Henry James' expansive heart.
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) by Rick Groen
Jane Campion makes a beeline for the repressed sexuality, and loses the nuance. [17 Jan 1997]
75
Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert
I think if you care for James, you must see it. It is not an adaptation but an interpretation.