The Turn of the Screw

 The Turn of the Screw 2009

• Director: Tim Fywell
• Seen by this director: River
• Based on the book by Henry James
• Cast: Michelle Dockery, Eva Sayer, Josef Lindsay, Dan Stevens, Nicola Walker, Sue Johnston, Edward MacLiam
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Michelle Dockery – The Gentlemen, Downton Abbey, The Hollow Crown
• Dan Stevens – Downton Abbey, Summer in February
• Nicola Walker – Unforgotten, Last Tango in Halifax, River, Four Weddings and a Funeral
• Sue Johnston – Downton Abbey, Sex Chips and Rock’n’Roll, Brassed Off
• Why? I don’t remember
• Seen: 27 October 2021      

       We both tried to read the novel, but we gave up. I’ve never cared for Henry James’s writing. By then we’d already bought the DVD so we might as well see it.

       The film starts in a mental institution with the traumatised Ann (Dockery) and the psychiatrist Dr Fisher (Stevens) (yes, they were married on Downton Abbey).

       Flashback to when Ann starts as the new governess for two orphaned children in a rural manse, Bly. Bad things happen with ghosts and things.

       It’s BBC so it’s elegantly filmed with several top-notch British actors so of course it’s well acted. It’s a pity that they didn’t choose a better book. It’s such a muddled and boring story. 

2 ½ * of 5 (Hal liked it and gave it 4 ½*.)