Great interpretation of the book

She is Catherine Sloper, without charm but a wealthy heiress. He is Morris Townsend, "beautiful," but without means, Henry James writes in the novel on which the film is based. The story is a true classic; that is, it can be retold many times, and in many ways, without dulling its keen insight into relationships. Perhaps most important, this historical, romantic novel, "Washington Square," is not trite. The qualities of the book may explain why a giant of cinema, William Wyler, made an exquisite film, "The Heiress," based on the book, 50 years ago. A version for the stage was a recent Broadway hit.

So why would director Agnieska Holland dare to remake it? This reviewer, never having read a word of James, only found an answer after first seeing the film, then reading the novel. One cannot fully appreciate the brilliance of Jennifer Jason Leigh's performance (truly an embodiment of Catherine), the interplay of the superb ensemble, or the evocation of antebellum New York society, until one has read this book. The story is always advertised as the shy, plain girl's doomed infatuation with the charming, mercenary Morris. But it is really the story of Catherine's complex battle with her father, Dr. Sloper, played to ironic perfection by Albert Finney in the recent film (and with icier grandeur by Ralph Richardson in the Wyler version).

Here is James exposing the workings of the Doctor's mind, like a medical student observing the surgery:

"'It must be deucedly pleasant for a plain, inanimate girl like that to have a beautiful young fellow come and sit down beside her, and whisper to her that he is her slave -- if that is what this one whispers. No wonder she likes it, and that she thinks me a cruel tyrant; which of course she does, though she is afraid -- she hasn't the animation necessary -- to admit it to herself. Poor old Catherine!’ mused the Doctor."

Poor Catherine, indeed. Yet, in the end, if she does not have the last laugh exactly, she is the survivor. And the grand house on Washington Square -- the incubator, trysting place, prison, and mausoleum of her life -- is hers.