The Literature Network - Romance Classics' 'Basil' Lacks Spice.

Romance Classics' 'Basil' Lacks Spice.

Content courtesy of

From: Multichannel News
Date: 19981012
Author:Haugsted, Linda

In 19th-century England, love meant staying within one's class. Deviate, and you die penniless, and probably alone.

The hero in Basil, a costume drama running all this month on Romance Classics, must not have read the rule book. The film, coproduced by Christian Slater from a book by Wilkie Collins, has some of the makings of an Ismail Merchant film -- hapless lovers, classic settings, the pressures of class.

But somehow, director Radha Bharadwaj just doesn't pull it off. Abrupt editing conspires against a relaxed flow of narrative, and the young cast frankly seems too ...

Read the rest of this article with a Free Trial at HighBeam Research.

Other Articles on Wilkie Collins

Wilkie Collins.(TT: Wilkie Collins.)

William Wilkie Collins

Wilkie Collins' Victorian Sensation

Wilkie Collins

Unequal Partners: Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, and Victorian Authorship

Letter: Viewpoints - Alesson not to get caught in the web.(Letters)

Unequal Partners: Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, and Victorian Authorship.(Book Review)

Representations of illegitimacy in Wilkie Collins's early novels.

Wilkie Collins; interdisciplinary essays.(Brief Article)(Book Review)

TITLE DEED: HOW THE BOOK GOT ITS NAME THE WOMAN IN WHITE BY WILKIE COLLINS

Find More Articles

About Our Articles: We've partnered with Highbeam Research to provide these article excerpts for your research needs. However, due to copyright laws, we cannot publish the whole article. To view these articles in full length you'll need to use the link above to access the free trial at Highbeam.