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Angels And Insects [1995]
from MGM Entertainment
starring Mark Rylance, Kristin Scott Thomas, Patsy Kensit, Jeremy Kemp, Douglas Henshall
directed by Philip Haas

Features:

• PAL

Editorial Review:

Angels and Insects--an ambitious costume drama--tells the tale of William Adamson (Mark Rylance), a buttoned-down Victorian explorer who returns to England penniless and dependent on the kindness of his sponsor, Sir Harald Alabaster (Jeremy Kemp). Adamson's intelligence and lower social standing endear him to the old man, but Sir Harald's son, Edgar, seems annoyed by his presence. Nevertheless, Adamson falls in love with Sir Harald's daughter, a shy sex kitten (Patsy Kensit), and offers to marry her.

As the web of sexual politics, true love, and class struggles develop; the explorer begins an intriguing study of a nearby ant colony. With encouragement from a dirt-poor Alabaster cousin (Kristin Scott Thomas), Adamson begins to write about the insects, never realising the parallels with his own life. The film, too, is a puzzle for the audience to solve while savouring the beauty of flesh and outlandish, vibrant costumes. Rylance is a perfect hero to root for, with his impeccable manners and soothing Scottish tones. All in all it's another curious winner from filmmakers Philip and Belinda Haas (The Music of Chance). --Doug Thomas, Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

• Avg. Customer Rating: 3.5 / 5.0

• It was ok
  Yes, his performance is very wooden, but his character needs to be that of someone very naive.
  It is a slow storyline, but it sucks you in and has a happy ending.
  Yes, I too saw it coming, the affair and the ending,
  Les.

• Elegant and unusual film
  An intelligent and unusual drama, based on A.S. Byatt's short story Eugenia Morpho. In mid 19th century England, a penniless naturalist who has lost his prized specimens from the Amazon in a shipwreck (I think the movie meant him to be a young Charles Darwin, though an incident where his field work possessions were lost in a shipwreck happened to his colleague Alfred Russell Wallace) gets a job cataloging specimens held by the Alabaster family in their country estate. He will eventually marry their daughter... more info

• 2 stars for its value as a sedative!
  Someone mentions Mark Rylance(playing William Adamson) being at his best-I'd hate to see him at his worst in that case because I've seen more life in a Tailors Dummy!An entomologist of repute he may have been but I can see why Patsy Kensit locked her bedroom door and found more interest in her brother Edgar who couldn't be trusted with anything that stood still.Adamson who had been on a scientific journey up the Amazon lost virtually all his exhibits on the return trip during which he was shipwrecked. He is... more info

• Nominee for a golden turkey
  Mark Rylance acting. A. S. Byatt story. Sounds like a sure-fire hit. Unfortunately this was not the case in my opinion.
  Whereas I realize that the Adamson character (Rylance) was meant to be rather straight laced, I do think it was overdone. Unlike the characters in the story that project humanity onto insects, I felt I was merely observing the characters actions with no intuition of their feelings. The revelations that I assume were meant to shock, did not seem shocking at all as I did not... more info

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