Angels and Insects

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Angels and Insects ★★★ 1995 (R)

Very strange Victorian-era romantic drama is definitely an acquired taste. The mysteries of nature are nothing compared to the mysteries of human life as naturalist William Adamson (Rylance) comes to discover when he takes up a position at the home of amateur insect collector, Sir Harald Alabaster (Kemp). He falls in love and quickly marries blondly beautiful Eugenia (Kensit), whose outward propriety hides a sensual nature and some decadent family secrets. Based on A.S. Byatt's novella “Morpho Eugenia.” Take particular note of the costumes by Paul Brown, which mimic the exoticness of insects. 116m/C VHS, DVD . GB Mark Rylance, Patsy Kensit, Kristin Scott Thomas, Jeremy Kemp, Douglas Henshall, Chris Larkin, Annette Badland, Anna Massey, Saskia Wickham; D: Philip Haas; W: Belinda Haas, Philip Haas; C: Bernard Zitzermann; M: Alexander Balanescu.