Washington Square – Agnieszka Holland | #film

Washington Square – Agnieszka Holland

Agnieszka Holland's 1997 American costume drama. An adaptation of the novel by Henry James with the same title, which was previously adapted by William Wyler as 'The Heiress'.

Henry James' works, which often tell stories of love, power and complicated interpersonal relationships, have always been a real breeding ground for filmmakers. The short novel Washington Square (1880) was adapted several times, the most famous film being William Wyler's The Heiress (1949), a classic Hollywood melodrama. The fact that Agnieszka Holland, best known for her naturalistic dramas, took an interest in adapting a love story set in the 19th century might be surprising. Although Washington Square was produced by Disney's Hollywood Pictures, there is nothing sentimental about it. Holland departed from the style of The Heiress and told the story in her own way – in her version, the love story takes on a feminist approach and is, as the director herself pointed out, influenced by the style of Witold Gombrowicz.

The film begins with spectacular camerawork that penetrates the eponymous plaza and then 'sneaks' into one of New York’s wealthy homes, where dramatic events take place – a mother gives birth to her daughter but dies in the process. The girl’s entire life will be marked by the tragic circumstances of her birth. Since childhood, Catherine pours all her feelings onto her father, the rich doctor Austin Sloper (Albert Finney), but the man cannot come to terms with the loss of his wife and distances himself from the child’s affections.

The doctor considers his daughter unintelligent and ugly, which reinforces the girl's shyness and inferiority complex. The family dynamic changes, however, when Catherine (Jennifer Jason Leigh) enters adulthood and a new man appears on the horizon. The woman who previously looked out daily for her father returning from work, now eagerly awaits visits from the young, handsome Morris (Ben Chaplin). The only question is: has the attractive but poor and unemployed admirer actually fallen in love with the occupant of the Washington Square house, or does he just want a taste of Sloper’s wealth? Catherine’s father has no doubts about the correct answer.

It is because of this relationship between the Self and the Other that Washington Square may seem like a work of Gombrowicz. The director herself references the work of the author of Ferdydurke, pointing to the character of Catherine, who for a long time lives with the ‘mug’ imposed on her by her father. Washington Square tells the story of maturing as a woman, of freeing herself from the gaze of others and defining her own path in life.

Washington Square (1997) - Trailer

Holland’s film plays with the structure of melodrama in a very interesting way. The director does not create a parody or pastiche of the genre, but at the same time questions its unwritten rules. Jennifer Jason Leigh, who plays a character that is not particularly attractive, morbidly shy and awkward (sometimes bordering on slapstick), does not resemble the beautiful and charming heroines of Hollywood melodramas. Most importantly, although Catherine’s feelings are not questioned, the film departs from the sentimental narrative that celebrates love as the most important aspiration for a character. The ending of the story can be considered optimistic, but it has little in common with the happy endings known from the classic works of the genre.

Questioning the patterns, Holland does not neglect the accessories of costume cinema – the director and her collaborators took care of the details and created an evocative atmosphere of the era. Due to financial constraints, shooting could not take place in New York, so the titular Washington Square was recreated in Baltimore. Production designer Allan Starski recalled that the residents of the neighbourhood where the film was shot – considered to be extremely dangerous – were so enthusiastic about the decorations that they asked not to dismantle them after the end of the production. Another important element of the narrative is the camera work helmed by Jerzy Zieliński, which reinvigorates the story and breaks up the theatricality of the 19th-century romance.

This adaptation of Henry James' novel is not the first costume drama from the director of The Secret Garden, but it seems to mark an important point in her career. From this point on, Holland more often plays with genre cinema and employs a discreet style, close to the zero-degree cinema style. Washington Square is, however, the best example of the director undermining the pared-down, kitschy vision of the world by playing with pop-cultural conventions and consistently developing her discourse on the traps that every human relationship is filled with.

Washington Square. Directed by Agnieszka Holland. Screenplay by Carol Doyle (based on a novel by Henry James). Director of photography Jerzy Zieliński. Production design: Allan Starski. Costumes by Anna Biedrzycka-Sheppard. Music Jan A.P. Kaczmarek. Cast: Jennifer Jason Leigh (Catherine Sloper), Albert Finney (Austin Sloper), Ben Chaplin (Morris Townsend), Maggie Smith (Aunt Lavinia) and others. Hollywood Pictures, Caravan Pictures, Alchemy Filmworks, A Roger Birnbaum Production. USA 1997. 110 minutes.

Originally written in Polish, translated into English by P. Grabowski, December 2021