An honest and courageous exploration of women's sexuality...

Rating: 8/10 (21 July 2003)

I completely agree with the many others who have commented that this film tells a story of love and passion. It is extremely therapeutic to watch a Victorian woman overcome the moral dogma of a repressive society, so vivid to us in all those Victorian novels we still love today!

SPOILER ALERT!!!!!
I liked the scene where Ada nearly drowns but makes the choice to save herself...I felt Jane Campion was rewriting the fates of all those tragic, stoic, Victorian fallen angels who were, ultimately, unable to save themselves.
But what captivated me the most was how honest and insightful Jane Campion is in her depiction of Ada's growing realisation of her sexual power. Ada does something that the Victorian heroines rarely did...she recognises the sexual power that she can hold over men and takes a lot of pleasure in it, without guilt or shame. Maybe 'Jane Eyre' unconsciously hints at this, and Estella in 'Great Expectations' has been reared to manipulate lovelorn young men mercilessly.
MILD SPOILER!
But Ada is different because she gets to be happy at the end of it all. She isn't made a victim and held up as an example of feminine cruelty and sexual transgression for ever more. Campion acknowledges that her heroine is playing with fire, but happily doesn't judge, just lets her get on with it, to dramatic effect. As a result, the film depicts people who can be passionate, loving, cruel, violent, tender, loyal and selfish; as ambiguous as real people are.