Wide Sargasso Sea

UPC: 794043632525

Studio: New Line Home Video

MPAA Rating: NC17   Contains:[Violence, Nudity, Adult Situations, Strong Sexual Content, Not For Children]

Summary: Director John Duigan brings Jean Rhys' difficult 1966 best-selling novel to the screen. It's a story meant to be a prequel to Charlotte Bronte's novel Jane Eyre, surmising what drove the first Mrs. Rochester mad in that novel. In Jamaica in the 1840s, slavery has been recently outlawed. Plantation owner Annette Cosway (Rachel Ward) has become so poor that she marries a rich, boorish Englishman whom she does not love. Her husband, Paul Mason (Michael York), is a sexist, racist tyrant who mistreats his servants and his wife. Paul flees to England after the servants and their countrymen revolt and burn down the mansion, killing Annette's young son. Annette goes insane and is consigned to the care of a servant. Her daughter Antoinette (Karina Lombard) is placed in a convent until she is old enough to inherit the property, but the inheritance depends on her marrying a proper husband. By previous arrangement, she marries Edward Rochester (Nathaniel Parker). At first they are lustily in love, but Rochester proves to be as elitist who is as disrespectful as Mason. Rochester has title to all of Antoinette's property, but he despises Jamaica and wants to return to England. He also fears the black magic of Christophene (Claudia Robinson), who mixes up a voodoo potion which ends up driving the couple farther apart. ~ Michael Betzold, Rovi

Category: Drama

Features: ccNC-17 and R-rated versions
DTS Surround Sound
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Stereo Surround Sound
English subtitles and closed captions
Original theatrical trailer
DVD-ROM enabled

Wide Sargasso Sea

Format: Digital Video Disc (DVD)

Release Date: 11/04/2003

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Theatre Wide-Screen

Audio: DD5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS Digital Theater Systems, DD2 Dolby Digital Stereo

Runtime: 99 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English

Subtitles: English

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Side #1 --
1. Main Title/In the Sea [2:08]
2. New Hope [3:01]
3. Dangerous and Stupid Men [4:54]
4. "Deliver Us from Evil" [4:19]
5. Arrangements [1:46]
6. Rochester's Faint Greeting [3:55]
7. Reconciliations [2:50]
8. Their New Home [5:39]
9. Dream Places [3:00]
10. Early Pleasures [6:34]
11. Nightmare [2:35]
12. Wild Mrs. Rochester [4:31]
13. The Letter [5:24]
14. Beast and Gentleman [:03]
15. Ugly Homecoming [:09]
16. Visits and Threats [:02]
17. Some Belated Truth [:02]
18. Potions and a New Song [:55]
19. Omens [:02]
20. Confrontations [:02]
21. Sudden Departure [4:36]
22. "The End of My Dream" [5:12]
23. End Credits [5:21]

Michael Costello

John Duigan's film version of the Jean Rhys novel, something of a prequel to Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, is an extraordinarily atmospheric visualization of the decline of a marriage. The plot explores the first marriage of Jane Eyre's, Mr. Rochester (Nathaniel Parker), from the first blush of romance with beautiful Jamaican plantation heiress Antoinette Cosway (Karina Lombard) to the disintegration of the union at the hands of a cruelly autocratic husband. Although the characterization is sketchy, Duigan uses the steamy climate to bring the neo-Gothic novel's eroticism to the foreground -- filling the screen with sweaty, entangled bodies. Along with the frank sexuality, there's also a layer of social comment on the issues of male dominance and the exploitation of black labor not usually associated with this genre. Yet, one comes away frustrated by the opacity of the characters, more memorable as naked bodies than naked souls. The film performed poorly in theaters, no doubt hurt by the NC-17 rating. ~ Michael Costello, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Paul Campbell  Actor 
Kevin Thomas  Actor 
Dorothy Cunningham  Actor 
Naomi Watts  Actor 
Ben Thomas  Actor 
Bobby Smith  Actor 
Stewart Copeland  Composer (Music Score) 
Shelagh Delaney  Screenwriter 
John Duigan  Director 
John Duigan  Screenwriter 
Karen Koch  Producer 
Sara Risher  Executive Producer 
Ian Sharp  Producer 
Ian Sharp  Screenwriter 
Karina Lombard  Actor 
Nathaniel Parker  Actor 
Rachel Ward  Actor 
Michael York  Actor 
Martine Beswicke  Actor 
Claudia Robinson  Actor 
Rowena King  Actor 
Huw Christie Williams  Actor 

Country: Australia,UK