dir Richard Eyre

scr Richard Eyre, Charles Wood

with Judi Dench, Jim Broadbent, Kate Winslet, Hugh Bonnevill, Penelope Wilton, Samuel West, Timothy West, Kris Marshall, Saira Todd, Juliet Howland, Eleanor Bron, Joan Bakewell

release US 14.Dec.01; UK 18.Jan.02

Miramax-BBC

01/UK 1h30

REVIEW BY RICH CLINE

The life of novelist-philosopher Iris Murdoch becomes an artful examination of happiness and love--two of Murdoch's recurring themes--in this lyrical film by London theatre director Richard Eyre. Murdoch's life is told in two parallel stories: As a young woman (Winslet), she's a bright spark who falls for the unlikely John Bayley (Bonneville) while still seeing other men (and maybe women?) on the side. And at the other end of their life together, Murdoch (Dench) and Bayley (Broadbent) are forced to confront the realities of her Alzheimer's--especially cruel because of Murdoch's fierce intellect and Bayley's complete reliance on her.

The raw honesty here is profoundly moving, drawing us into the characters with their quick wits and sharp minds, and then getting deeper beneath the surface at two points in their lives. Despite the chillingly serious issues, the film never gets sentimental (although James Horner's violin-intensive score is a bit sticky at times). Instead it faces the facts head on, with edgy humour and challenging dialog. Dench is equally unsentimental, showing Murdoch's steady decline with an intriguing combination of dignity and chaos. While Winslet is open and earthy as the younger woman whose career is all in front of her. But it's Broadbent who steals the show with a performance of such complexity that it takes your breath away--he's at once a babbling fool, a doting husband and a brainy academic. (And to be fair, Bonneville is equally spot-on as the younger Bayley, dealing with his own mind-spinning issues.) There's also a nifty bit of casting that has West father and son playing younger and older versions of one of Iris' boyfriends. But this time-hopping structure never becomes gimmicky; some of the edits are a bit obvious, but they are also meaningful and telling. And while this is an important film on two major levels--as a bio of Murdoch and as an examination of dementia--its real power lies in the way it speaks to our hearts about love.

adult themes and situations, nudity, language - Cert. 15