https://thecineviewer.com/thebostonians.html
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — The Bostonians
JohnnyBoy — 9 months ago(June 19, 2025 11:00 PM)
https://thecineviewer.com/thebostonians.html
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jarrodmcdonald-1 — 2 months ago(January 27, 2026 03:01 PM)
THE BOSTONIANS (1984)
What rights do they have?
The story depicted on screen is one of ardent feminism, mixed with the priorities of an LGBTQ demographic.
The film, for the most part, is faithful to Henry James's novel, first published in 1886. We have Vanessa Redgrave as a middle-aged east coast suffragette who takes an impressionable young woman (Madeleine Potter) as her protege, mentee whatever you want to call it. But she is also grooming the woman as a lover, because she desires this pretty new feminine friend for bed.
The film doesn't shy away from depicting lesbian desire or lesbian angst. Redgrave's character is definitely homosexual but she is not 'out.' How could she dare be 'out' in polite society at that time? She could not. But while the film has Redgrave kiss Potter in a few scenes, affectionately doting on her, it stops short of making the kisses passionate. Anyway, that's not the real point.
The point is the beauty of the story. And admittedly, I use the word beauty loosely, but there is a quaint charm to the proceedings, while the story is steeped in melodrama. We surmise that by her slight ambivalence, Potter's character is not fully into women. She is probably the Q part of LGBTQ, and she is questioning where she is on the spectrum. But she is young, vulnerable and susceptible to the charms of Redgrave's character, who mothers her to an extent and draws her into this whole burgeoning political movement about getting the vote and equal rights for American women.
Woven into the tapestry of this story is a wealthy southern gent, with political aspirations of his own, played by Christopher Reeve. It's fortunate that Merchant-Ivory was able to cast the very attractive Reeve, fresh off his success as Superman. Reeve portrays a decidedly conservative southerner, juxtaposed brilliantly with the northern liberal ladies in the plot. He glimpses Potter's character, is basically introduced to her through Redgrave since Redgrave is a distant family cousin…and he decides he wants Potter for his wife. So, he comes courting and often.
A very unusual triangle occurs in the main storyline. The film manages to be sympathetic towards the plight of women, and towards lesbian or bisexual women specifically; but it also supports the traditional notions that a woman belongs with a man, married to a man, which is how James wrote it (though the author's sister was said to be lesbian and James himself is rumored to have not been heterosexual).
Part of what makes the film come alive, besides Redgrave's strong central performance as a protagonist who is also an antagonist to traditional order, is Reeve's potent masculinity. His desire for Potter starts to override Redgrave's desire for Potter. I am not sure if that was intentional in how James Ivory directed it; because while Reeve is going to win in the end, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala's screenplay adaptation doesn't exactly give Reeve's character any distinct advantage. In fact, both of these potential life partners for the young woman experience emotional setbacks in the narrative, and the story could go either way. But because Reeve is so virile on camera, it's believable that he can overtake Potter at the end.
Yet the story cautions us, through some of Redgrave's dialogue, that a man like Reeve's character might want the women (all women) to fail, so he can have what he wants when he wants it. Then, ultimately, what rights do the fairer sex have?? -
JohnnyBoy — 2 months ago(January 28, 2026 01:54 AM)
It may be that the book is better read; the movie was hard for me to watch because of poor translation through acting. Have you seen Maurice, and if so, do you think that one is similar to The Bostonians?
https://thecineviewer.com/maurice.html
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jarrodmcdonald-1 — 2 months ago(January 28, 2026 09:22 AM)
Yes, I have seen MAURICE…and in terms of the LGBTQ theme, it shares similarities with THE BOSTONIANS. But Forster's story has a happy ending for one of the same-sex couples, while James's story does not.
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JohnnyBoy — 2 months ago(January 29, 2026 12:43 AM)
That's true.
For tons of movie reviews, 60+ genre lists, best of the year lists, and other content, check out:
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