"Presence of Mind" is a recent film that reinterprets Henry James' "The Turn of the Screw" (the basis for the movie "The Innocents" and also the governess/children/ghosts storylines on DS, as well as a Dan Curtis TV version). The film apparently was never released theatrically in the U.S.; it is a Spanish production but is in English (not dubbed). The cast includes Sadie Frost (British) and Lauren Bacall. I had never heard of the film before picking up the DVD from the sale rack at Best Buy last December, but never got around to posting about it. Having watched the movie recently for the third time, I wanted to draw DS board members' attention to it.
First, it's beautifully filmed. The setting has been changed to an unidentified tropical island - a major reinterpretation, and although I prefer the English manor setting of the original, the location works well. The hot, slow summer days shimmer with vivid color and heat. Scenes are composed as artistically as any I've seen; some frames could be reproductions of old master paintings - Vermeer is one artist who comes to mind, whose color, tones, shading, and composition seem to be consciously replicated. I haven't been able to figure out where the setting is supposed to be. I'm assuming it was filmed on an island off the coast of Spain (probably in the Canaries).
Sadie Frost is somewhat tentative in the role as governess, although I've appreciated her performance more with repeated viewings. Her baby-doll voice seems out of place at first, but then, maybe there were women in the Victorian era who had baby-doll voices, I don't know. And there are aspects of the character where the voice may not be inappropriate. The time period seems to be roughly the same as the original, and the costumes, especially Frost's as the governess, are gorgeous - far too expensive to realistically be the wardrobe of a governess, though.
This interpretation of the story is highly sexual, but not in an explicit way (other than one brief full-frontal nude scene of Frost, which is beautifully done). Rather, it is psychosexual. The mystery is a psychological one, even more so than in the earlier versions, because everyone's psychology, including the housekeeper's (Bacall's), is enigmatic. There are references to sexual and physical abuse. It was only on a second viewing that I realized the visual cues that were linking the governess to Miss Jessel, which was quite fascinating.
The visual imagery throughout is highly symbolic, something that has become more clear to me with second and third viewings. Perhaps the most memorable of these scenes is where the governess explores the dark, nightmarish inner chamber of the master's quarters, which seems to symbolically represent her entering the darkness of her own mind. The phallic and yonic symbolism of James' story is replicated.
There are no special effects. This is a slow-paced film that builds to a devastating psychological climax. It is a non-commercial film in the extreme - definitely not for run of the mill horror fans.
But for anyone interested in another interpretation of James' story, I highly recommend it.
-Vlad
