Leigh Enthralling In Father-Daughter Story

What with the Jane Austen craze having runs its course, the past year has belonged to Henry James. And never has Hollywood played the literary cannibal game so completely nor so well.

One estimate sets the overall number of James-inspired films and miniseries at 17. Even so, the recent mini-boom has been, well, Austenesque in its use of the best and brightest talents.

Jane Campion’s “The Portrait of a Lady” starred Nicole Kidman and Barbara Hershey, while Iain Softley’s “The Wings of a Dove” - which is still playing in the theaters - has been winning critical plaudits for Helena Bonham Carter.

Agnieszka Holland’s adaptation of “Washington Square” opens today.

Of the three, I prefer the last. Not only does Holland have the most visual skill of the three filmmakers, but Jennifer Jason Leigh pulls off the kind of performance in a difficult role that likely would have defeated anyone else.

“Washington Square” tells the story of one Catherine Sloper (Leigh), the homely, inhibited, only daughter of a well-to-do New York doctor. Dr. Austin Sloper (Albert Finney) is a harsh man who celebrates his own acts of kindness as if he were Gandhi bestowing favors on the rabble of India.

And while his misguided daughter loves him, Sloper can’t quite return the affection. After all, as we learn in an unbelievably complex and brilliant opening sequence, Catherine cost Sloper his wife, who died giving her daughter birth.

Sloper wouldn’t admit, even if he realized it, that he has never stopped being enraged at his daughter. To him, domination equates to love. To her, domination only heightens her insecurities.

Which is further reason for the complication that develops when a handsome young suitor comes asking for Catherine’s hand. Morris Townsend (Ben Chaplin) has the easy good looks of a born fortune-hunter, which is what Dr. Sloper spots him for from the first.

But Townsend is kind to Catherine, and this makes all the difference to her, blinded as she is by his currying attention and by his bright, brown eyes.

So when the inevitable happens, when she is forced to choose between her father with his fortune, and Townsend with his good looks, kind disposition and lack of prospects, the choice is difficult. And in a world that stresses duty over desire, station over situation, such choices seldom lead to individual happiness.

From the start, “Washington Square” indicates that all won’t end happily. James’ own body of work underscores this assumption.

But Holland, the stylish Polish director of such films as “Europa, Europa” and “The Secret Garden,” and screenwriter Carol Doyle have a different take on the notion of happiness. And while there may not be any romantic ending in view, Holland-Doyle succeed in finding the kind of satisfying ending that, for example, defeated the more obviously feminist-minded Armstrong.

In terms of acting, Leigh proves that she is capable of playing something other than a troubled, modern woman (think “Georgia,” think “Dolores Claiborne”). She’s perfect as a turn-of-the-century troubled woman.

Maggie Smith is her match as the meddling aunt, who mixes up her own desires with what’s best for her sheltered niece. As Townsend, Chaplin is all energy and dark-browed good looks, while - unfortunately - Finney merely does another tired turn on his familiar role of curmudgeon.

James has inspired enough films to demonstrate that he doesn’t need any of them, nor Holland, to secure his place in literary history.

But it took this talented Polish director, complete with her feel for how to update literature for a modern audience, to keep him alive at his best. Too bad he’s not around to collect the royalties.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: “WASHINGTON SQUARE” ***-1/2 Locations: Lincoln Heights Cinemas Credits: Directed by Agnieszka Holland, starring Jennifer Jason Leigh, Albert Finney, Ben Chaplin, Maggie Smith, Judith Ivey Running time: 1:55 Rating: PG