Review: The Beguiled


Set in Virginia during the Civil War, Colin Farrell plays a wounded Union soldier reluctantly taken in a dainty girls’ school, headed by Nicole Kidman. There the handsome, rugged charmer stirs up a lot of feelings within students (Elle Fanning) and staff (Kirsten Dunst) alike. Angourie Rice and Oona Laurence play a couple of the girls.



I won’t say the 1971 Don Siegel original with Clint Eastwood was a masterpiece or anything, however it certainly offered up an interesting departure for manly man of action and spaghetti westerns Eastwood. Like Eastwood’s excellent directorial debut from the same year “Play Misty for Me”, it helped if you didn’t take it too seriously, either. This 2017 remake seems an interesting choice for director Sofia Coppola (the overrated director of “The Virgin Suicides” and “Lost in Translation”), but proves to be a less interesting and appealing film than the original. It’s an extremely good-looking film, but I think the original had a lot more fun with the sexual repression thing, sort of a less pretentious, less sleep-inducing “Picnic at Hanging Rock” minus the pointless mystery (Coppola’s own “Virgin Suicides” displeased me for very similar reasons). Scripted by the director (who states that it isn’t a remake but an adaptation of the original novel, yet she still credits the 1971 film at the start), this one plays it far too earnestly I think, despite good work by Colin Farrell and especially an almost perfectly chosen Kirsten Dunst.



At first, I had hoped a more muscular, Eastwood-esque actor might’ve been cast in the lead, but Farrell’s Irish-accented charmer ultimately proves an interesting tweak, albeit surprisingly more sympathetic than Eastwood’s version of the character by the end of it (The original was no feminist film, but Eastwood was kind of a sly, manipulative dick at times). Nicole Kidman convinces as a repressed woman, but less convincing at playing a dowdy, spinster-type. She’s OK, just not entirely convincingly cast, especially when you look at the cast of the original. They were hardly stunners, and that was intentional. Here everyone’s probably a bit too pretty, to be honest (Yes, even Dunst). Sadly, the other girls don’t get much of a look-in here, which is a shame given Elle Fanning and especially Aussie actress Angourie Rice are quite talented. The character depth just isn’t there for them and despite not looking alike, they all blend together. Still, the cinematography by Philippe Le Sourd (“The Grandmaster”) certainly commands attention, it’s a very, very pretty picture.


An OK, but ultimately unremarkable remake with good work by Farrell and especially Dunst, and excellent cinematography. Otherwise not a whole lot going on that wasn’t done better before. I was a bit disappointed here, it's a touch dry compared to the original. 



Rating: C+

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