The Turn of the Screw (2009 film)

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''The Turn of the Screw'' (also known as ''Ghost Story: The Turn of the Screw'') is a British

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

based on

Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...

's 1898 ghost story of the same name. Commissioned and produced by the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

, it was first broadcast on 30 December 2009, on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

. The novella was adapted for the screen by

Sandy Welch Sandra Elizabeth "Sandy" Welch (born 6 December 1953 in Chester, Cheshire) is a British television writer and screenwriter. Welch is a graduate of the National Film and Television School. As a screenwriter, Welch has developed many serials fo ...

, and the film was directed by

Tim Fywell Tim Fywell is an English television and film director. In 2003 he made his first feature debut with ''I Capture the Castle'', an adaptation of the novel of the same title by Dodie Smith. Fywell directed his first Hollywood feature, ''Ice Prince ...

. Although generally true to the tone and story of James's work, the film is set in the 1920s—in contrast to the original 1840s setting—and accentuates sexual elements that some theorists have identified in the novella. The film's story is told in flashbacks during consultations between the institutionalised Ann (

Michelle Dockery Michelle Suzanne Dockery (born 15 December 1981) is an English television and film actress. She is best known for her leading performance as Lady Mary Crawley in the ITV television period drama series ''Downton Abbey'' (2010–2015), for which ...

) and Dr Fisher ( Dan Stevens). Ann tells how she was hired by an aristocrat (

Mark Umbers Mark Umbers (born 17 June 1973) is an English theatre, film and television actor. Early life and education Born in Harrogate, West Riding of Yorkshire, Umbers was brought up in Wetherby and was educated at Malsis School before attending Sedber ...

) to care for the orphans Miles (Josef Lindsay) and Flora (Eva Sayer). She is met at the children's home, Bly, by Mrs Grose ( Sue Johnston), the housekeeper. Ann soon begins to see unknown figures around the manor, and seeks an explanation. Critics were divided in their reviews of ''The Turn of the Screw''. The acting and tone of the production were generally praised, but the plot's divergences from the original story were less well received. A particular disagreement concerned the film's horrific elements; some critics considered it to be genuinely scary, while others suggested that the horror was not fully effective. The original story has been much analysed owing to its ambiguity, and critics disagreed about the extent to which the film succeeded in portraying this trait. Academic analyses found the film considerably less ambiguous than the novella. ''The Turn of the Screw'' was released on DVD on 1 March 2010 in the UK and on 28 April 2015 in North America.

Production

The

...
had previously adapted several horror stories as Christmas films, with their series ''

A Ghost Story for Christmas ''A Ghost Story for Christmas'' is a strand of annual British short television films originally broadcast on BBC One between 1971 and 1978, and revived sporadically by the BBC since 2005. With one exception, the original instalments were direc ...

'' including adaptations of the

M. R. James Montague Rhodes James (1 August 1862 – 12 June 1936) was an English author, medievalist scholar and provost of King's College, Cambridge (1905–1918), and of Eton College (1918–1936). He was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambrid ...

stories " The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral" (filmed as ''

The Stalls of Barchester ''The Stalls of Barchester'' is the first of the BBC's ''A Ghost Story for Christmas'' strand, first broadcast on BBC 1 at 11.00pm on 24 December 1971. Based on the story "The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral" from the 1911 collection ''More Ghost ...

''), "

A Warning to the Curious "A Warning to the Curious" is a ghost story by British writer M. R. James, included in his book '' A Warning to the Curious and Other Ghost Stories'' first published in 1925. The tale tells the story of Paxton, an antiquarian and archaeologist w ...

", "

Lost Hearts "Lost Hearts" is a ghost story by British writer M. R. James, originally published in 1895. It was later collected in his 1904 book '' Ghost Stories of an Antiquary''. Plot summary The tale tells the story of Stephen Elliott, a young orphan boy, ...

", " The Treasure of Abbot Thomas" and "

The Ash Tree "The Ash-tree" is a ghost story by British writer M.R. James, included in his 1904 collection '' Ghost Stories of an Antiquary''. Plot summary In 1690, the English county of Suffolk is wracked with a fear of witches. Many girls and women are ...

". ''The Turn of the Screw'' fits into this "mini-genre" of the Christmas horror film. The BBC executive and drama commissioner

Ben Stephenson Benjamin Stephenson is a television executive, formerly controller of drama at the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and currently Head of Television at Bad Robot Productions in the United States. Personal life Stephenson attended The ...

, discussing ''The Turn of the Screw'', said that "Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without a ghost story for the adults to watch in front of the fire when the children are in bed, and they don't get more chilling than this bold reimagining of the classic Henry James tale." The film was commissioned by Stephenson and Jay Hunt, then controller of BBC One. It was directed by

, and produced by Colin Wratten; the executive producer was

Jessica Pope Jessica may refer to: Given name * Jessica (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters with this name * Jessica Folcker, a Swedish singer known by the mononym Jessica * Jessica Jung, a Korean-American singer known by the ...

The film is an adaptation of

's 1898 novella ''

The Turn of the Screw ''The Turn of the Screw'' is an 1898 horror novella by Henry James which first appeared in serial format in '' Collier's Weekly'' (January 27 – April 16, 1898). In October 1898, it was collected in ''The Two Magics'', published by Macmil ...

''. As one of his more popular stories, it had already been adapted for films and television many times, although not previously by the BBC. The adaptation was screenwritten by

, who set the film in the early 1920s, in contrast to the novella's 1840s setting. This allowed the introduction of the

Freudian Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies explained as originating in conflicts i ...

psychiatrist interviewing the main character; this

framing device Framing may refer to: * Framing (construction), common carpentry work * Framing (law), providing false evidence or testimony to prove someone guilty of a crime * Framing (social sciences) * Framing (visual arts), a technique used to bring the focu ...

is not used by James, but both the novella and the film share a

first-person narrator A first-person narrative is a mode of storytelling in which a storyteller recounts events from their own point of view using the first person It may be narrated by a first-person protagonist (or other focal character), first-person re-teller ...

. The updated setting also allowed the First World War to account for the lack of male staff at the house. The Freudian and libidinous elements some literary theorists have seen in James's story are particularly prevalent in the film, with Ann's repressed sexual feelings for the Master resulting in a number of highly sexual sequences. Further, Welch added a

theological Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the s ...

element not present in James's story; Ann's father is a

preacher A preacher is a person who delivers sermons or homilies on religious topics to an assembly of people. Less common are preachers who preach on the street, or those whose message is not necessarily religious, but who preach components such as ...

, although Ann herself is unsure of her faith. The psychiatrist, by contrast, is an atheist. When he asks Ann about her faith, she replies that she believes in the

Devil A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of ...

. The adaptation generally mirrors the novella's tone. The television critic Matthew Baylis observed that the film creates unease and horror through distortions of reality, and that ''The Turn of the Screw'' is not a "screaming-banshees-and-horrible-corpses style of ghost story". The film utilises subtle horror, including details such as a broken doll on a window ledge, and the fact that viewers never discover certain elements of the story (for example, it is never revealed why the character Miles has been suspended from his boarding school). This, for Baylis, ties to the title of the film: "it's the writer who puts the screw in the hole and the best ones ask the audience to turn it themselves". ''The Turn of the Screw'' was filmed on location in the

West Country The West Country (occasionally Westcountry) is a loosely defined area of South West England, usually taken to include all, some, or parts of the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, and, less commonly, Wiltshire, Glo ...

of England, beginning in August 2009. The scenes at Bly were filmed at

Brympton d'Evercy Brympton d'Evercy (alternatively Brympton House), a grade I listed manor house near Yeovil in the county of Somerset, England, has been called the most beautiful in England. In 1927 the British magazine '' Country Life'' devoted three articles ...

, a

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

near

Yeovil Yeovil ( ) is a town and civil parish in the district of South Somerset, England. The population of Yeovil at the last census (2011) was 45,784. More recent estimates show a population of 48,564. It is close to Somerset's southern border with ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

. Brympton was chosen because of its similarity to Bly House, as described by James, including its extensive grounds and large lake. The railway scenes were filmed at the

East Somerset Railway The East Somerset Railway is a heritage railway in Somerset, running between Cranmore and Mendip Vale. Prior to the Beeching Axe, the railway was once part of the former Cheddar Valley line that ran from Witham to Yatton, meeting the Somer ...

. ''The Turn of the Screw'' starred

as Ann, Sue Johnston as Mrs Sarah Grose, Dan Stevens as Dr Fisher,

as the Master,

Nicola Walker Nicola Jane Walker (born 15 May 1970) is an English actress, known for her starring roles in various British television programmes from the 1990s onwards, including that of Ruth Evershed in the spy drama '' Spooks'' (2003–2006 and 2009–201 ...

as Carla,

Edward MacLiam Edward MacLiam (born Edward Wilson in 1976) is an Irish actor, known for his roles as Greg Douglas in the BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I ...

as Peter Quint and Katie Lightfoot as Emily Jessel.

Corin Redgrave Corin William Redgrave (16 July 19396 April 2010) was an English actor and left-wing socialist activist. Early life Redgrave was born on 16 July 1939 in Marylebone, London, the only son and middle child of actors Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kem ...

, who played the professor, was the son of

Michael Redgrave Sir Michael Scudamore Redgrave CBE (20 March 1908 – 21 March 1985) was an English stage and film actor, director, manager and author. He received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in ''Mourning Becomes Elec ...

, who starred in '' The Innocents'', a 1961 adaption of ''The Turn of the Screw''. The children, Flora and Miles, were played respectively by Eva Sayer and Josef Lindsay. However, due to the sexual content of the film, the child actors did not attend the preview screenings.

Broadcast and release

''The Turn of the Screw'' was first shown at 9 pm on

on 30 December 2009, as part of the BBC's Christmas 2009 season. It has since been broadcast on other BBC channels and on

Drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

. In the UK, the film was released on DVD on 1 March 2010, and distributed by Acorn Media UK. The DVD was rated "15" by the

British Board of Film Classification The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC, previously the British Board of Film Censors) is a non-governmental organisation founded by the British film industry in 1912 and responsible for the national classification and censorship of f ...

for "infrequent scenes of strong sex". The film was released on DVD for the North American market as ''Ghost Story: The Turn of the Screw'' on 28 April 2015. The DVD was unrated and had no extra features. Foreign language versions of the film include television screenings or DVD releases of the film in German (''Schloss des Schreckens''), Finnish (''Ruuvikierre'') and Polish (''W kleszczach lęku'').

Plot

The film's story is told in a series of flashbacks interspersed with discussions between Ann (Dockery), a patient in a sanatorium, and Dr Fisher (Stevens), a skeptical and atheistic psychiatrist. Despite the suggestion of his superior (Redgrave) that he focus upon soldiers who have returned from the First World War, Fisher wishes to help Ann if he can. In flashbacks, Ann is hired by a wealthy and sophisticated aristocrat (Umbers) to act as a governess for his orphaned nephew and niece who live at Bly. He tells her that he is not to be bothered in London, and that Ann is to deal with any problems that may arise. Ann travels to Bly, where she meets the all-female household staff—led by Mrs Sarah Grose (Johnston), the housekeeper—and then the young Flora (Sayer), one of Ann's new pupils. Ann finds the house unnerving, and the staff standoffish and unwilling to talk. Ann subsequently receives a letter informing her that Miles (Lindsay), her other pupil, has been expelled from his boarding school, but is assured by Mrs Grose that Miles is well-behaved. When he arrives at Bly, Ann finds Miles to be charming, and although he does not explain what happened at school, she does not push him. Her interactions with the children are idyllic, and they sail on Bly's lake and enjoy picnics together. Meanwhile, Ann fantasises about the Master, futilely hoping that he will visit. Ann discovers that her predecessor, Emily Jessel (Lightfoot), is buried in Bly's church, and is told that Jessel killed herself. She also begins to see the figures of a young man and a young woman around Bly. Mrs Grose dismisses Ann's stories, but one maid, Carla (Walker), tells Ann of the sexually abusive former valet Peter Quint (MacLiam). Mrs Grose reveals that Carla had been badly affected by the War, and is prone to flights of fancy. Later, Ann is woken at night by the figure of the woman, and follows her to find Flora standing next to an open window. The pair see Carla fall from the roof, landing near Miles, who is in the garden. Ann rushes outside, and sees the male figure on the roof. Inside again, Mrs Grose assures Ann that she must be confused. Ann believes the figures to be the ghosts of Quint and Jessel, seeking to continue their passionate and violent sexual encounters through Miles and Flora. However, she is concerned to find that others apparently cannot see the ghosts. She then begins to suspect that Miles and Flora, having been groomed by and involved in the activities of Quint and Jessel, may be deliberately seeking to bring the pair back. She resolves to leave Bly, but, when saying goodbye to Miles, learns that he, too, sees the figures. Minutes after leaving, she asks to be taken back. Later, Ann panics, believing Miles and Flora to have left the house. She finds them by the lake, but they are playing roughly; when Miles pushes Flora's head under the water, Ann sees the pair as Quint and Jessel. She rushes to intervene, and grapples with a figure alternating between Quint and Miles. When Ann repeatedly strikes Miles, Mrs Grose stops her, and Flora says that she no longer wishes to see Ann. After ordering the staff and Flora away from Bly, Ann waits with Miles to confront Quint. The pair are scared, but when Quint arrives Ann tells Miles to demand that Quint leave him alone. Miles (speaking with Quint's voice) shouts at Ann, but eventually (in his own voice) tells the ghostly Quint that he wishes him to leave. Ann embraces Miles, whose body goes limp. Ann is found some time later by the police, clutching Miles's dead body, but she refuses to speak of what happened until meeting Dr Fisher. He seems to accept Ann's story, unconvinced by his own

psychosexual In Freudian psychology, psychosexual development is a central element of the psychoanalytic sexual drive theory. Freud believed that personality developed through a series of childhood stages in which pleasure seeking energies from the child b ...

explanations of her visions. Fisher is dismayed to see Ann led away by the police, accused of Miles's murder, and he sees Quint's face on one of the officers. The film closes with a new governess arriving at Bly.

Cast

– Ann, the governess * Sue Johnston – Mrs Sarah Grose, Bly's housekeeper * Dan Stevens – Dr Fisher, a skeptical psychiatrist *

– Carla, a maid at Bly * Eva Sayer – Flora, the young girl at Bly * Josef Lindsay – Miles, the young boy at Bly *

– The Master *

– The professor at the sanatorium *

Wendy Albiston Wendy Albiston (born 13 January 1969) is a Welsh actress. In 2002, she played De Chevreuse in the ''Doctor Who'' audio drama '' The Church and the Crown'' and guest starred in the Sarah Jane Smith adventure '' The TAO Connection''. She is prob ...

– Baines, the driver * Sarah Buckland – Diane, a member of staff at Bly *

– Peter Quint, the former valet at Bly * Katie Lightfoot – Emily Jessel, a former governess at Bly * Nellie Burroughes – A maid abused by Quint * Peter Bygott – Ann's father * Honor Cargill-Martin – Young Ann * Cameron Stewart – The police Inspector

Critical reception

The critical response to ''The Turn of the Screw'' was mixed. The film was praised by Matt Baylis, writing in ''The Express'', as one of the better adaptations of James's story. ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

''s David Chater, although he did not consider the film "terrifying" or "suppurate in evil", found it "never less than absorbing", suspecting this would be particularly so for viewers unfamiliar with the story. ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

''s Simon Horsford felt that ''The Turn of the Screw'' "might not work on all levels but it is an unsettling interpretation nonetheless". By contrast, Tom Sutcliffe, writing in ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'', was unimpressed with the film, considering James's novel to have been "comprehensively vandalised", while Richard Whittaker, writing in ''

The Austin Chronicle ''The Austin Chronicle'' is an alternative weekly newspaper published every Thursday in Austin, Texas, United States. The paper is distributed through free news-stands, often at local eateries or coffee houses frequented by its targeted demogr ...

'', felt that the film was "a particular and peculiar misfire" from Welch. ''The Turn of the Screw'' was chosen as "pick of the day" in ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...

'', despite the reviewer, Victoria Segal, expressing her view that the film was "far from perfect". But she added that the flaws could be overlooked, and although there are times "when it grinds through the gears with a clunk and clatter", the "spirit" of James's story is retained. Several other critics praised the way that the film had kept the tone of James's story and the subtle approach to horror. This subtlety, according to a review in the ''

Western Morning News The ''Western Morning News'' is a daily regional newspaper founded in 1860, and covering the West Country including Devon, Cornwall, the Isles of Scilly and parts of Somerset and Dorset in the South West of England. Organisation The ''Western M ...

'', hit "exactly the right note of terror", and the film was praised as genuinely scary by some critics. Whittaker, though generally critical of the film, felt it strongest when focussed on the house, children and ghosts. Paul Whitelaw, writing in ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its pare ...

'', commended Welch and Fywell for sustaining a horrific atmosphere, and noted that the soundtrack added to the horror. For him, even the use of horror clichés was effective, contributing to the film's atmosphere. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'''s Phil Hogan expressed a contrary opinion: while he thought ''The Turn of the Screw'' "exquisitely turned out", he felt the film's use of clichés limited the extent to which it was actually scary. In a review for ''

The Leader-Post The ''Regina Leader-Post'' is the daily newspaper of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, and a member of the Postmedia Network. Founding The newspaper was first published as ''The Leader'' in 1883 by Nicholas Flood Davin, soon after Edgar Dewdney, L ...

'', Andy Cooper praised the "creepy atmosphere" and tension, but said that the film " ellshort in the chills department" and "could have done with a few jolts of terror to breathe more life into it". The divergences from the original novella's plot were generally not well received. Tim Teeman, reviewing ''The Turn of the Screw'' for ''The Times'', felt the 1920s setting did not contribute to the story, as it was not properly developed. He compared the film to

Sarah Waters Sarah Ann Waters (born 21 July 1966) is a Welsh novelist. She is best known for her novels set in Victorian society and featuring lesbian protagonists, such as '' Tipping the Velvet'' and '' Fingersmith''. Life and education Early life Sa ...

's novel ''

The Little Stranger :The Little Stranger ''is also the title of one of the Color Classics series produced 13 March 1936, in three-strip Technicolor, by Fleischer Studios. It is also the 2018 film adaptation of Waters' novel.'' ''The Little Stranger'' is a 2009 g ...

'', a ghost story set in the 1920s in which the social upheavals of the decade are explored. Gerard Gilbert, writing both for ''The Independent'' and

The Arts Desk ''The Arts Desk'' (theartsdesk.com) is a British arts journalism website containing reviews, interviews, news, and other content related to music, theatre, television, films, and other art forms written by journalists from a variety of traditio ...

, felt that Ann's relationship to the Master was "unnecessarily sexed up", and that this element added nothing to the story, and, in fact, detracted from it. In his review of the American DVD release for the ''

Deseret Morning News The ''Deseret News'' () is the oldest continuously operating publication in the American west. Its multi-platform products feature journalism and commentary across the fields of politics, culture, family life, faith, sports, and entertainment. Th ...

'', Chris Hicks said that he could not see why the changes had been made, and that the literalisation of the sex and violence detracted from the film. Whittaker suggested that ''The Turn of the Screw'' was "oddly sexually explicit", and that the changes were unnecessary for the plot. The biggest problem, he suggested, was the introduction of the psychiatrist; his discussions with Ann, which could easily be removed, served to remove the mystery from the plot, in Whittaker's eyes. Sutcliffe was critical of the reframing of the story as a stereotypical account of how "a cocky young man of science has his certainties upturned", and said the film took "the terrifying indeterminacies of the original", turning them "into a slightly shabby ghost-train ride". Critics disagreed about how successful the film was in capturing the novel's ambiguity, which is part of the enduring appeal of James's story. For

Tim Dowling Robert Timothy Dowling (; born June 1963) is an American journalist and author who writes a weekly column in ''The Guardian'' about his life with his family in London. Career Dowling worked in data entry for a films database before he became a fr ...

, a columnist for ''

'', the film failed in this regard. The novella, Dowling explained, can be understood as a straightforward ghost story, but it can also be understood as a story about Ann's madness, and there is further ambiguity concerning whether the children are being controlled by Quint and Jessel, or whether the children are controlling Ann. He suggested that "there's probably a subtlety to all this ambiguity on the page which, when translated to the screen, just looks like having it both ways." As a result, "the narrative was at times more evasive than ambiguous". Whittaker felt that the film failed to appropriately present the novella's ambiguity and implicit themes, saying that the adaptation "feels oddly obligated to fill in all those blanks, and it's really the script's fault". Sutcliffe expressed a similar view; for example, he noted that "when the governess sees Quint on the tower for the first time so do we, and the thing that really haunts us as we read the story—uncertainty—vanishes to be replaced by a much duller kind of fretfulness, about when something is next going to pop out at us." By contrast, Chater and Teeman (both writing for ''The Times'') felt the ambiguity of the film was praiseworthy, with Chater asking whether the ghosts truly exist or are just a manifestation of "hysterical imagination", and Teeman suggesting that viewers will be more likely to believe (with Dr Fisher) that Ann's retelling is accurate. ''The Scotsman''s Whitelaw praised Welch's ability to balance the various subtexts of the film while still delivering an effective narrative. The cast of the film were praised, with Dowling considering ''The Turn of the Screw'' "a slick production with strong performances", and Cooper saying that the film features "a great supporting cast". Critics particularly commended the performances of Dockery and Johnston. Dowling also picked out the performances of Lindsay and Sayer as worthy of note, while Whitelaw praised MacLiam, who was able "to personify pure evil with scarcely a line of dialogue". Segal, by contrast, felt MacLiam was badly cast, which resulted in "one of the story's primary dark forces ookingmore like a member of

Elbow The elbow is the region between the arm and the forearm that surrounds the elbow joint. The elbow includes prominent landmarks such as the olecranon, the cubital fossa (also called the chelidon, or the elbow pit), and the lateral and the me ...

than the very essence of evil".

Literary analysis

James's novella ''The Turn of the Screw'' has been much analysed in academic literature, and, given that it has been frequently reinterpreted in the arts, discussion of many of the adaptations has found a place in the academic literature on Henry James and neo-Victorian culture. Considering the

frame narrative A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (con ...

of the film, Anna Viola Sborgi, a literary theorist, argues that the fact that Ann begins the film in a sanatorium conveys the impression that the character is mad, resulting in a loss of ambiguity. Consequently, the film is left less a horror story and more a

psychological thriller Psychological thriller is a genre combining the thriller and psychological fiction genres. It is commonly used to describe literature or films that deal with psychological narratives in a thriller or thrilling setting. In terms of context and c ...

. Sborgi argues that the film is explicitly made psychological through particular narrative and visual choices; for example, Miles appears at the train station in a ghost-like way through a cloud of steam. The fact that the film is a thriller, she argues, is further expressed through the use of a collage of images before the opening scene. However, the use of horrific imagery (including an open grave) in the collage "highlight the contradiction inherent in this rendering of the novella": while the story is presented as psychological, the viewer is nonetheless drawn into the film as a horror story. Other than the atypical frame narrative, Sborgi considers the adaptation fairly conventional with regard to both setting and costume. For the literary theorist Thomas S. Hischak, ''The Turn of the Screw'' is a weak adaptation of the novella, with poor performances that can be "ascribed to the trite, anachronistic dialogue and leaden direction". He likens the film to ''

In a Dark Place ''In a Dark Place'' is a 2006 horror film version of Henry James' 1898 novella ''The Turn of the Screw''.Haralson, Eric L.; Johnson, Kendall (2009). ''Critical Companion to Henry James: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work''. Infobase Publi ...

'' (2006), an earlier adaptation of the novel that focuses upon the supposed sexual aspects of the story. For Hischack, the 2009 film presents a governess who is not successful in repressing her sexuality. Ann's fantasies of her own sexual encounters with the Master, as well as her visions of the sexual encounters between Quint and Jessel, "are among the many obvious and clumsy aspects of this adaptation". Like Sborgi, Hischak sees little ambiguity in the film, calling it a "misguided adaptation that likes to spell things out for the viewer".

References

External links

*
The Turn of the Screw
' at the

...
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Turn of the Screw BBC television dramas 2009 television films 2009 films British horror television films Films based on The Turn of the Screw Films based on short fiction Gothic horror films 2009 psychological thriller films British ghost films Films set in the 1920s Films set in England Films shot in England Films set in psychiatric hospitals Films set in country houses Films directed by Tim Fywell 2000s British films