Based on a short story by Joseph Conrad.
In the late 19th century an immigrant (Vincent Perez) leaves Russia to find a better life in America. Unfortunately the ship he is travelling on runs into a storm off the coast of Cornwall in England. He is swept overboard shortly before the ship sinks and everyone else on-board is drowned.
The locals initially believe him to be mentally impaired as they are unable to communicate with him. One young woman (Rachel Weisz) an outsider herself as a result of circumstances, sees his underlying humanity and is the first to express some human compassion towards him. But he is taken away to work as a virtual slave.
A kind doctor (Ian McKellan) some time later takes him under his wing when he discovers the mans origins and is lot is improved greatly once he learns to speak English. Freed from his isolation and unpleasant condition he seeks out the woman who was so kind to him, and romance blossoms.
Two very attractive leads and a nice romantic story. Though some scenes, images and dialogue are a bit over romanticized - but then again it is a love story. The performances are generally good if a little cliched at times, with a particularly good performance from McKellan and I think an even better one from Kathy Bates as a sympathetic benefactor.
The Cornish coast is gorgeously used to full effect. In fact the whole film looks quite good with the exception of a few of the early travel scenes which appear to be computer generated.
Note: I think this film again reinforces the suitability of the short story to film adaptation, even when an adaptation of a novel is good it is usually necessary to leave out some of the story.
In the late 19th century an immigrant (Vincent Perez) leaves Russia to find a better life in America. Unfortunately the ship he is travelling on runs into a storm off the coast of Cornwall in England. He is swept overboard shortly before the ship sinks and everyone else on-board is drowned.
The locals initially believe him to be mentally impaired as they are unable to communicate with him. One young woman (Rachel Weisz) an outsider herself as a result of circumstances, sees his underlying humanity and is the first to express some human compassion towards him. But he is taken away to work as a virtual slave.
A kind doctor (Ian McKellan) some time later takes him under his wing when he discovers the mans origins and is lot is improved greatly once he learns to speak English. Freed from his isolation and unpleasant condition he seeks out the woman who was so kind to him, and romance blossoms.
Two very attractive leads and a nice romantic story. Though some scenes, images and dialogue are a bit over romanticized - but then again it is a love story. The performances are generally good if a little cliched at times, with a particularly good performance from McKellan and I think an even better one from Kathy Bates as a sympathetic benefactor.
The Cornish coast is gorgeously used to full effect. In fact the whole film looks quite good with the exception of a few of the early travel scenes which appear to be computer generated.
Note: I think this film again reinforces the suitability of the short story to film adaptation, even when an adaptation of a novel is good it is usually necessary to leave out some of the story.