Presence of Mind (1999)
As I said, the year 1999 produced two adaptations of The Turn of the Screw: one 'classical' by Ben Bolt, another 'provocative' by Antonio Aloy. Today it is about the second one. Presence of Mind is a debut by a young Spanish director; there are two versions, dubbed in English and in Spanish. The Spanish title is El Celo. The film features Lauren Bacall as Mrs Grose. Another person of interest is the red-haired Sadie Frost as the governess. The two actresses, one legendary, another sexy, are meant to give the film its own personality - together with many novelties and provocative elements in the script, aiming at originality and shocking.
The provocations begin with the title. Why, there is nothing wrong with it, you will say. Well yes... The English title, Presence of Mind, is nicely ambiguous: the governess who encounters supernatural events tries to keep presence of mind, in order to help the children and remain sane. On the other hand, the title hints at the possible presence of alien, malevolent 'mind' in the house, that is, a ghostly presence of the deceased servants, Quint (here renamed Fosc) and Miss Jessel.
But the Spanish title, the original one, is El Celo, and there is another sort of ambiguity, quite more disturbing. The word celo has got two meanings, or rather, there are two words with a different meaning. The first one is 'zeal': like in English, it is used when speaking about religious zeal, or any sincere hard effort to achieve something. (The governess certainly takes her responsibility in earnest... zealously.) The second meaning is, unlike in English, 'desire'. A common expression that comes to mind is 'una perra en celo' = 'a bitch in heat'. Thus, the title hints at something... er.. obscene maybe. Isn't it provocative?
Another peculiarity lies wit the heroine and what seems the film's main idea... Remember Henry James's text? The governess was in love. With whom? The story won't tell... not in any literal, vulgar way. This film tells. Of course it can only be my impression, but (spoiler or not?) I believe she was in love with the boy. Young Miles (in his early teens rather than a child, and that seems to support the theory) charms his inexperienced governess. From the moment he unexpectedly casts a blindfold over her eyes and tells her to 'trust him' (OMG), actually teaching her not to fear her own feelings (OMG), she is under his spell. Her closed eyes are surely symbolic. See the Spanish poster:
Her thoughts are strange: she thinks she reads it in his eyes that he needs her, she prays that he guess about her feelings... She really seems in love with the teenager, dressing up for him, casting sly glances at him, revelling in the fact that he is like a master of the house, and she, a mistress. The unusual finale proves the same point.
As if this key were not shocking enough, the viewer is made to know, from the very beginning, that the red-haired governess is a very strange person, to say the least.
The film begins with the heroine remembering her father's death. An old man is agonising in his bed. When his daughter approaches, he grasps her violently by the wrist, causing her great pain - and then dies. Later, at his funerals, the dead man is seated in a chair, and a photographer makes a picture of our heroine with her father. (This photo is to accompany the young woman throughout the film.)
(He slightly resembles the old Henry James in appearance, or it only seems so to me?...)
All of that creates a grim mood. So gruesome!
And then, as her father is dead and she is left to take care of herself, the future governess is preparing to leave home and take up a job. She calls to someone: 'Alice! Alice! It's time to go!' And we see that she is actually speaking to a doll.
All of this happens within the first five minutes of the film. So - was the heroine crazy from the start? If the viewers are not repelled by all of that, they are likely to be interested in what this craziness will lead to.
The heroine certainly has things in her past that one would wish to leave behind. When, at one moment, she undresses before the camera - slowly taking off her elaborate Victorian dress, her crinoline and her undergarments - it is not only to show the actress's naked body and appeal to the male audience, but also to draw attention to some strange stripes on her sides...
It is rather an ugly idea to suppose that a victim of domestic violence should herself develop a warped, pervert mind... but it can well be there.
In the reviews I read (which are, with rare exceptions, negative) some people compare the heroine to a witch: red hair, green eyes, mind guarding secrets. That is an interesting idea, suggesting that it is not perfect Good fighting perfect Evil, but a rather flawed 'Good'; definitely, a woman who has some darkness to herself.
Sometimes she behaves very weirdly. She is supposed to educate the children and help them grow up. Here is one uneasy situation she has to solve: the girl had a pet white dove, Ophelia. One day the dove is found dead - and how! All torn, one bloody ball of feathers. In this film, it is not the cat. 'Ah - you killed her!' cries Flora, hysterical. The boy excuses himself, somewhat sheepishly: it was by chance, he didn't mean it. (Cut it into pieces by chance! Ha!) The teacher's actions? Lock the boy in his room. Organise a little funeral with the bereaved Flora: the bird's corpse is sent floating into the water, hidden in an old shoebox. Afterwards, the governess returns to the boy and tells him, simply: 'Go to play'. That is all! He did something truly cruel and gets nothing for it! Go and play. What should one think? Either she sees nothing wrong with it, or she loves the brat too much and would forgive him anything. A strange woman.
Click to viewThere is much strangeness apart from the heroine, but some changes hardly add anything to the story and are sometimes puzzling.
Well, the haunted household is placed not in Bly House, Essex, but at a small private island in the Mediterranean. That could be convenient for the filming group and provide beautiful nature shots, rows of cypresses and all... and of course England does not have a monopoly for ghosts.
But why such point is made that the family is Catholic and they need a Catholic governess? Why should the Uncle 'seduce' the governess by speaking about redemption through suffering, giving her a medallion of St Christopher to protect her and pronouncing gravely that 'the one who keeps innocence is saved'? It hardly serves any purpose, expect maybe to show that the uncle is a horrible hypocrite - or to mock religious beliefs.
For all the attempts at originality, the film quotes The Innocents (1961) several times, both in words ('Isn't it what happens to some people?', 'You're far too pretty to be a governess!', 'Miss Jessel was no better than he was', 'Of course one cannot always believe Flora'...), in images (the white dove) and plot events (it was Miles who found the body of his friend).
Flora (at first such a solemn, silent girl) is rather interesting. They chose a very beautiful child for the part. I think they used some make-up for her eyes and lips to make her look like a tiny, elfine woman. She also wears 'adult' clothes. A little woman of nine or ten years old - that is quite creepy!
The boy is just an ordinary plain teenager who thinks too much of himself. The creepiness is rather in the script, rather guessed at.
Fosc (no idea why they changed the surname; was it difficult to pronounce 'Quint'?) is an obscure grim-faced individual with long black hair, reminding me incongruously of an Indian chief. He looks very sombre and forbidding. How someone could fall in love with him (Miss Jessel) or follow him like a shadow (Miles), beats me.
A month passed between watching this film and 'reviewing' it, and try as I may, I cannot remember Miss Jessel at all. Oh, she did not drown in this film, but -
It seems that the ghosts are quite real, as the governess learnt about Miss Jessel's death through her vision, without anyone telling her (Mrs Grose lied).
Almost forgot it - Lauren Bacall is Mrs Grose, here renamed Mado Remei.
She seems stern at first, but the governess soon overrules her (and once even threatens her).
Personally, I was disgusted by many moments.
I disliked it how the governess often keeps her face too close to the children.
I disliked the scene with the blindfold (and the idea of a teen seducing his governess). I hated the one with the half-dressed brother and sister 'playing': just wanted to shout, 'Mr Director, your actors are kids! What are you making them do?!' No, really, wanted to kill him. And although it is so shocking, sometimes I daresay even ugly and pervert, I forgot a lot about it - now I am writing this post, I have to recall and look up my notes - so somehow it failed to leave an imprint in my mind (which is maybe for the best).
For all its faults, the film does open yet another perspective on the familiar ghost story and may be quite interesting to watch, even if it may prove disturbing and strange!