Quartet
Director: James Ivory
Writer: Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
Based on: Jean Rhys‘ novel
Cast: Isabelle Adjani, Maggie Smith, Alan Bates, Anthony Higgins, Suzanne Flon, Sébastien Floche
Seen on: 29.7.2024

Plot:
Marya (Isabelle Adjani) finds herself suddenly destitute after her husband Stephan (Anthony Higgins) is arrested and convicted for illegal art dealings. The case, her fate and her beauty draw the attention of the wealthy Heidlers, Lois (Maggie Smith) and H.J. (Alan Bates). They invite her to stay with them. Since Stephan urges her to accept the invitation and she doesn’t have many other options, she does. But things soon become strange between them.

Quartet is a beautifully made film that lets its actors shine. It’s probably not the best Merchant/Ivory film out there, but it is very good regardless.

Quartet focuses mostly and Marya, making her the point of view character for most of the scenes. The way she gets into bad situations because she doesn’t trust her own instincts, in fact, is told not to trust her own gut, was, to me, the most interesting thing about the film. It perfectly illustrates the already limited options for women that are further limited by the way men and the patriarchy discount them. The same, by the way, is true for Lois who has a few options more because she is wealthy, but in the end, she has to save her own dignity by pretending that H.J.’s infidelity doesn’t bother her or is, in fact, something they agreed on.

Both Adjani and Smith are absolutely formidable in their roles, with Adjani getting more attention and sympathies from the film, making it easier to overlook Smith. But generally speaking, the film is one for the actors and Bates is also really good. I just had a harder time standing H.J., making it difficult for me to understand Marya’s decisions regarding him at times. (That is one of the bigger weaknesses of the film.)

The sets are lavish and evocative, painting a picture of Paris in the 20s that is not as romanticizing as many other films set in that time and place are but even gets a bit seedy without becoming sordid (the porn shoot that is a short part of the film is shown with frankness and nudity that probably wouldn’t fly anymore today).

It’s definitely a film worth seeing, a film that still has power, especially in its performances. I didn’t completely love it, but that is less a question of quality than of personal preference.

Summarizing: recommended.