The Portrait of a Lady

film by Campion [1996]

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July 16, 2026

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The film The Portrait of a Lady (1996) by Jane Campion is based on the 1881 novel of the same name by Henry James. The story centers on Isabel Archer, a young, impoverished American woman who travels to England seeking cultural enrichment. She becomes the object of affection for several men. Her eventual marriage to the reclusive Gilbert Osmond leads her to a critical examination of her own desires and deeply held beliefs. Henry James is renowned for this novel, among other works like The Turn of the Screw.12

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Jane Campion
Campion’s subsequent films included The Portrait of a Lady (1996), an adaptation of the novel by Henry James starring Nicole Kidman and John Malkovich; Holy Smoke (1999), a dramedy that examines spiritual awakenings and deprogrammers and featured Kate Winslet; and the thriller In the Cut
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Campion’s subsequent films included The Portrait of a Lady (1996), an adaptation of the novel by Henry James starring Nicole Kidman and John Malkovich; Holy Smoke (1999), a dramedy that examines spiritual awakenings and deprogrammers and featured Kate Winslet; and the thriller In the Cut
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Nicole Kidman
Early life and career
…1800s in Jane Campion’s 1996 screen adaptation of Henry James’s The Portrait of a Lady (1996).
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…1800s in Jane Campion’s 1996 screen adaptation of Henry James’s The Portrait of a Lady (1996).
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Mary-Louise Parker
…played an AIDS victim; and The Portrait of a Lady (1996), an adaptation of the Henry James novel that also featured Nicole Kidman and John Malkovich. In 1996 Parker starred on Broadway with Billy Crudup in a revival of William Inge’s play Bus Stop. (Parker and Crudup became romantically
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…played an AIDS victim; and The Portrait of a Lady (1996), an adaptation of the Henry James novel that also featured Nicole Kidman and John Malkovich. In 1996 Parker starred on Broadway with Billy Crudup in a revival of William Inge’s play Bus Stop. (Parker and Crudup became romantically
Read More