The Aspern Papers Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.0

The Aspern Papers Blu-ray Movie Review

The James Gang.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 10, 2019

If you had a high school and/or college experience anything like mine, at some point you were required to make your way through the writings of both Henry James and his philosopher brother William. The kind of interesting interplay between what might be called an American perspective and a British point of view tended to inform a lot of Henry’s writing, but the fact that brother William is often mentioned as the “father of American psychology” may give a salient clue about another aspect of Henry’s work, namely the interior worlds he was so adept at detailing. Both Henry James' frequently used interaction between Brits and upstart Americans as well as some roiling psychological aspects inform The Aspern Papers , a kind of glossy quasi-Merchant Ivory outing (James Ivory is one of many Executive Producers, and he’s on hand here on this Blu-ray release in a supplemental interview). Kind of interestingly, the source novella by James upon which this film is based has served as at least a spark of inspiration for several other films and television outings, including The Lost Moment, a film which I frankly had completely forgotten I had reviewed several years ago, until I started doing background research for this review.

It was actually kind of instructive to revisit my old The Lost Moment Blu-ray review just to remind me of how flagrantly that 1947 film departed from James’ original, which is hewed to substantially more closely in this newer adaptation. The irony is, I’m not so sure that that’s a good thing, or at least a consistently helpful one. As I mentioned in the review of The Lost Moment, the whole “interior” angle of many of James’ works might seem to present the most obvious obstacles for adaptive filmmakers, and that may well be the case again here. This film attempts to work up some psychological mystery in terms of what is actually motivating Morton Vint (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), an enigmatic, brash, glad handing American (is there any other kind in a James novel?) who shows up at the palatial Venice estate of Juliana Borderau (Vanessa Redgrave), ostensibly to rent a room. First Vint is going to have get through the physical and emotional barricade proffered by Juliana’s young niece Tina (Joely Richardson, in a neat bit of familial casting), though, with Tina's suspicious nature first seeming unwarranted, but then turning out to perhaps be based more in reality.

It of course turns out that Vint does have an ulterior motive, and that has to do with a torrid affair Juliana had had in her youth with a legendary and long dead poet named Jeffrey Aspern. There are some rumored love letters Vint wants to get his hands on, and kind of surprisingly once the truth comes out, it doesn't seem like Tina is especially averse to that happening, despite the fact that she is regularly put in her place by her domineering aunt (and indeed, that fact may play into the Jamesian psychology of it all). But Vint is a disingenuous sort on several levels, leading Tina on in a way that is frankly meant to manipulate her, which it does well enough — for a time, anyway.

The Lost Moment played the underlying plot points also offered here in a much more florid, even melodramatic, fashion, and it added whole swaths of subplots that are nowhere to be seen in this entry, including elements that seemed willfully designed to evoke memories of then relatively recent literary cinematic fare like Rebecca or even Jane Eyre. As overheated as those aspects arguably were, they gave The Lost Moment a certain delirious energy that this adaptation lacks. I was never completely convinced by Rhys Meyers' take on a 19th century American, with Rhys Meyers' characterization offering bombast and even a certain obnoxious aspect that is kind of hard to reconcile with the character's supposed propensity to charm the papers off of two women. Redgrave is crusty and cantankerous, but is really here in what amounts to a glorified cameo. Richardson is the real standout in what amounts to a "three hander", offering a complex portrait of a woman who has come to realize her options may be limited, and that she's kind of caught between looking out for number one and being a pawn in someone else's chess game.

The Aspern Papers Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Aspern Papers is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Cohen Media Group with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. The IMDb lists the Arri Alexa as the camera of choice, and I'm assuming this was finished at a 2K DI. This has both the pluses and minuses of Arri captured imagery. In good lighting conditions, the image pops spectacularly well, with robust colors and some excellent fine detail levels, especially in some of the fineries on costumes and things like drapes. In less fulsome lighting conditions, things can look a little murky at times, though Landais and cinematographer Philippe Guilbert tend to hedge their bets a little in this regard by repeatedly aiming the camera at windows through which light flows, adding a kind of effulgent glow to backgrounds. There are a couple of selected moments where blacks look a bit on the milky side, but overall contrast is solid and this is a nicely rendered, problem free, presentation.

The Aspern Papers Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

While The Aspern Papers pays a little lip (and/or sound design) service to the story's Venetian setting, a lot of this film plays out in parlors that frequently only have two or three people talking in them. As such, surround activity, while present and often quite nicely splayed in the side and rear channels, can tend to be on the subtle side. Vincent Carlo's score also spreads through the surrounds quite effectively. Dialogue is always rendered cleanly and clearly on this problem free track.

The Aspern Papers Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Making of The Aspern Papers (1080p; 12:30) is an okay EPK featuring interviews with the cast and Julien Landais.


• James Ivory, Gabriela Bacher and Julien Landais Discuss The Aspern Papers (1080p; 7:39) is a brief but interesting chat, with Landais naturally expressing his fondness for Merchant-Ivory productions.


• Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 2:05)

Cohen's typical insert contains a few stills and some production credits.

The Aspern Papers Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There are elements to The Aspern Papers that kind of hark back to stodgier fare of an earlier era, and yet Landais seems to want to give the story a bit of a post-modernist spin, including in totally weird elements like the outfits Mrs. Prest (Lois Robbins) wears, which seem to have been ported in from a nearby production of Moulin Rouge!. Something about Rhys Meyers' characterization just didn't quite sit right with me, but Richardson is very effective in her role. Technical merits are first rate for those considering a purchase.