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The Aspern Papers

2018

Julien Landais

Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Vanessa Redgrave, Joely Richardson, Lois Robbins ...

4.4

165

Drama Set in Venice in the late 19th century, "The Aspern Papers" tells the story of an ambitious editor (Meyers), who is obsessed by the romantic poet Jeffrey Aspern and his short and wildly romantic life. Travelling from the U.S. to Venice, he is determined to get his hands on the letters Aspern wrote to his lover and muse (Vanessa Redgrave), who ferociously guards their secrets.

	Author	Review
United States	Michael O'Sullivan The Washington Post	"The film is smart, literary, nuanced, slightly stagy (...) There is much talking done here, but — despite some racy flashbacks — precious little action (…) Rating: ★★ (out of 4)"	NEU
United States	Manohla Dargis The New York Times	"The best that can be said about the woeful movie version of the 'The Aspern Papers,' based on the Henry James novella, is that it might send you running to the original."	NEG
United States	Keith Watson Slant	"The words of Henry James have never sounded as leaden and preposterous as they do in Julien Landais’s 'The Aspern Papers', a disastrously inept adaptation (…) Rating: ½ (out of 4)"	NEG
United States	Anthony Lane The New Yorker	"It’s when Landais departs from the original, or has a bright idea for expanding on it, that the movie’s troubles begin"	NEU
United States	John DeFore The Hollywood Reporter	"Passion is spoken of and clumsily envisioned in 'The Aspern Papers', but not a drop of it is felt."	NEG
United States	Moira MacDonald Seattle Times	"[It] is indeed gorgeous to look at (...) It’s a treat to see Redgrave and Richardson (...) [Meyers] delivers his lines flatly (...) [It] needed more of a lightness of touch (…) Rating: ★★ (out of 4)"	NEU

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