I very nearly fell asleep...

Rating: 2/10 (11 October 2002)

Beautiful locations and performances can do nothing if a film is as soul-destroyingly ponderous as this one is. One for fans of 'atmos', who have no care if the characters are realistic or even moderately likeable. Were it not for the high calibre of actors on show, the end result would doubtless be even worse to sit through. Despite the best efforts of Fiennes and Co, I was never far from either sleep or irritation throughout the entire running time.
It figures that Oscar should go such a bundle on something like this. It seemed to me to be all surface 'gloss' and precious little substance.
P.S. - Any Brits remember the old "Turkish Delight" ads on T.V? Think back to them for a neat encapsulation of the film's good points, with the added blessing that they ran for about 30 seconds instead of 3+ hours!