Artivels Undescribable Perfection

MoPoshy Absolutely brilliant

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Cheryl A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

bkoganbing I'm afraid a lot in America won't get the significance of The Serpent's Kiss as far as the gardens were concerned. At the point of time that this film is depicting 1699 in the reign of William I in Great Britain, the rich nobility even the nouveau rich that Peter Postlethwaite is portraying had this passion for ornate gardens. It was a style trend among those who could afford it. King Louis XIV in France designed the best for Versailles and everyone tried to copy him. So Postlethwaite who is a munitions manufacturer by trade and rich because of it has to have the most ornate garden in the kingdom so he can proclaim his status to the world.Enter Ewan MacGregor who plays a Dutch designer of gardens, he even worked for William of Orange. He goes to work for Postelthwaite and his wife Greta Sacchi to do his own version of Versailles and he's encouraged in this by Sacchi's cousin Richard Grant who has more than a passing interest in this project. It's his hope to bankrupt Postelthwaite and in turn win Sacchi for himself. Grant got something on MacGregor and he forces MacGregor to help him in his designs.Without the ornate status symbol garden Postelthwaite may still go bankrupt as he has an ill daughter in Carmen Chaplin and he's paying some heavy duty bills to quack doctors for her care.Some really fine mansion gardens in the UK that are great tourist attractions still serve as the backdrop of a most aesthetically pleasing film. Things don't quite work out for the plotter Grant and the people he uses and the ones he plots against. But that you see the film for.If you understand the concept that in 1699 those ornate gardens were a status symbol than The Serpent's Kiss will make sense to you.

silverauk You could speak about an architecture-film like the movies of Peter Greenaway. The personality-change of meneer Chrome (a boyish Ewan McGregor) is developed in the movie in a way that it is the backbone of the story but one asks himself if this is not poor for a movie. The 18th century with its superstitions and snuff-powder is the real background of the movie and the garden is in fact the antagonist. Juliana (Greta Scacchi) is not a real person, she seems to be like the statues of the garden. One wonders why she and Thea/Anna, her daughter (Carmen Chaplin) are attracted to meneer Chrome. Thomas Smithers (Pete Postletwaite) is a highly moral person full of strange fantasies, you cannot think of such a person in real life. Tim Rose Price should be aware that producing such a movie demands other skills than writing it.

JesNollie I found this movie to be a bit slow moving at times, but it was packed with great performances, particularly those of McGregor and Postlewait. The story was interesting, but I think it would have been better had they spent more time on development of the story. Or perhaps made it a short film.

Jedi_Elsra Like most period pieces, The Serpent's Kiss is long and seemingly drawn out to the average modern day movie goer. However, when it comes to the very core and heart of a movie, (its story and the actors that portray it,) everything is well thought out and enjoyable to watch. Just make sure you are not particularly tired and are up to watching the movie intently. Very surprising, and what makes the movie enjoyable-I might add, is that at the very beginning you find yourself caught in a intriguing plot which slowly unfolds to the unveiling of each character's real motives. Although there are no twist or turns, that would make it suspenseful the movie's full captivator lies in its puzzle piece of a story. Each scene has a plethora of knowledge and insight that proves at times to be quite the delightful opposite of what each character says. Yet, make no mistake, I definitely recommend this movie to anyone with patience and an infatuation for well written, fully understandable stories with moral meaning. If none of this is important to you, however, I would still recommended it. If only on the basis that Ewan McGregor's acting is something to watch intently and eagerly. Catching every detailed moment of his portrayal will leave an impression on even the more action driven movie goer.