A tug-of-war over the body and soul of a charismatic women's emancipationist, ca. 1875, between a repressed lesbian and a Southern gentleman of the old school ("He's an enemy of our movement and our sex. You must fear him"). But the emancipationist has an interest in the gentleman too, as a potential proselyte, and this gives him exactly the crack-in-the-door he wants. The issues are presented a bit directly to be a very good advertisement for that master indirectionist, Henry James. (But then the original novel is not the best advertisement for Henry James either.) And the characters are not drawn in sufficent detail to warrant the extended length. Vanessa Redgrave's quiveringness and Christopher Reeve's stolidness (further rigidified by the obligation of a Southern accent) exercise little attraction on either side. But their bone of contention (the doughy Madeleine Potter) is the real puzzler. "What power! What power!" is the Redgrave character's assessment, but the viewer might want to shift the emphasis to the first words and replace the exclamation points with question marks. Jessica Tandy, Linda Hunt, Nancy Marchand, Wesley Addy; directed by James Ivory. (1984) — Duncan Shepherd