The Portrait of a Lady is consistent to the novel but caused controversy with an random dream scene where Isabel has an erotic fantasy involving all of her pretenders .
The film tells the story of Isabel Archer ( Kidman ) , an innocent young woman of independent means who is manipulated by her `` friend '' Madame Merle ( Hershey ) and the devious Gilbert Osmond ( Malkovich ) .The film is relatively faithful to the novel but caused controversy with an interpolated dream sequence in which Isabel has an erotic fantasy involving all of her suitors .
The Portrait of a Lady -LRB-film-RRB-