Themes: Crumbling Marriages, Infidelity, Class Differences
Main Cast: James Wilby, Kristin Scott Thomas, Rupert Graves, Anjelica Huston, Alec Guinness
Release Year: 1988
Country: UK
Run Time: 114 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
Based on a novel by Evelyn Waugh, Handful of Dust is set amongst Britain's aristocracy of the 1930s. At sumptuous Hetton Abbey, tradition-bound country squire James Wilby and his wife Kristin Scott Thomas open their doors to well-connected but impoverished Rupert Graves. Graves returns Wilby's hospitality by having an affair with Scott Thomas, while Wilby gamboles about his estate without a clue of what is going on. Wilby's cloistered world comes tumbling down when Scott Thomas coolly demands a divorce, shortly after the accidental death of their young son. Wilby discovers that his divorce settlement will cost him Hetton Abbey; he faces this circumstance by not facing it at all, preferring to escape to South America, stiff upper lip intact, in the company of a dotty explorer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Adapted from Evelyn Waugh's novel, this very British film about how adhering to very British values can lead one on a straight and unrelenting path to hell serves up the same kind of manors and manners as Brideshead Revisited (also directed by Sturridge), but it gives equal exposure to the rot and ruin lurking beneath. A Handful of Dust is a surpassingly nasty film, in which people do rotten things while maintaining a lacquered veneer of grace and civility. The hideousness of these actions, and their impact on the film's one decent character (James Wilby), constitute a trenchant, ironic indictment of essentially useless people. The film's physical look mirrors the malaise of its characters: prim and picturesque as a still from a Merchant/Ivory excursion, the staid exterior sets a deceptively ordered stage for a story about the failures of tradition. The film features great performances by Wilby, Kristin Scott Thomas as his chilly wife, Rupert Graves as her wastrel lover, Anjelica Huston as a visiting American who puts things in perspective, and Alec Guinness as a loony jungle explorer. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
Judi Dench - Mrs. Beaver; Pip Torrens - Jock Grant-Menzies; Cathryn Harrison - Milly; Timothy Bateson - MacDouglas; Richard Beale - Ben; Maureen Bennett - Marjorie's Maid; Annabel Brooks - Daisy; Graham Crowden - Mr. Graceful; Beatie Edney - Marjorie; Marsha Fitzalan - Polly Cockpurse; Moyra Fraser - Mrs. Northcote; Stephen Fry - Reggie; Tristram Jellinek - Richard Last; Jack Kyle - John Andrew Last; Richard Leech - Doctor; Norman Lumsden - Ambrose; Roger Milner - Vicar; Kate Percival - Miss Ripon; John Quentin - Brenda's Solicitor; Jeanne Watts - Nanny; John Junkin - Blenkinsop; Alan Hay - Club Porter; Peggy Aitchison - Waitress; Jeannette Baillie - Rosa; Alice Dawnay - Winnie; Duke of Norfolk - Gardener; Christopher Godwin - Mr. Messinger; William Gonzalez - Indian Singer; Julian Infante - Indian Spokesman; Tamsin Olivier - Veronica; Matthew Ryan - Club Page; Hugh Simon - Travel Agent
Credit
David Wimbury - Associate Producer, Michael Jeffery - Costume Designer, Jane Robinson - Costume Designer, Charles Sturridge - Director, Peter Coulson - Editor, Jeffrey Taylor - Executive Producer, Kent Walwin - Executive Producer, George Fenton - Composer (Music Score), George Fenton - Musical Direction/Supervision, Sally Sutton - Makeup, Eileen Diss - Production Designer, Chris Townsend - Production Designer, Peter Hannan - Cinematographer, Derek Granger - Producer, David Wimbury - Producer, Jeffrey Taylor - Producer, Kent Walwin - Producer, Stephenie McMillan - Set Designer, Derek Granger - Screenwriter, Charles Sturridge - Screenwriter, Tim Sullivan - Screenwriter, Evelyn Waugh - Book Author
