Jewels

 

Our rating: 2 out of 5

Rated: PG13

reviewed by Charity Bishop
 

Danielle Steele is one of the foremost female novelists in the world. For many years, she has been penning stirring stories of romance and passion in the world of literary secular fiction, and a good many of her works have been transcribed to the television screen over the years. This adaptation of Jewels is a sweeping epic that leaves a little something to be desired in presentation, but gives little-known thespians an opportunity to shine.

Following a disastrous marriage to a drunken, sexually-abusive husband and the subsequent humiliating divorce that has marked her with scandal for the rest of her life, Sarah Thompson (Annette O'Toole) wants nothing more than to fade into obscurity. Believing a trip abroad will take her mind away from things, her parents introduce her to high British society and there she makes the acquaintance of the charming and compassionate William Whitfield (Anthony Andrews), a duke and thirteenth in line for the throne. Older, settled, and determined to have his way in winning over her heart, it doesn't take much for William to assure Sarah of the love and happiness she deserves as his wife. Indulging her every whim and showering her with affection and gifts, he is thrilled to learn on Christmas that she is pregnant.

Moving to France in order to fix up a run-down chateau Sarah has fallen in love with, their happy little family is interrupted with the devastation of the second world war. Forced to leave his beloved behind and return to his regiment in England, William soon goes missing on the battlefront, while France is invaded and the chateau commandeered by the Nazis as a war hospital. While attempting to raise her children, Sarah finds an unexpected friend in Joachim von Mannheim (Jrgen Prochnow), senior ranking officer in command of the German troops residing on her property. Her friendship nudges toward mild romance, and overshadows much of her relationship with her eldest son in the years that follow.

Ultimately, Sarah goes into the jewelry business. What started out as a simple kindness after the war (purchasing gems off Jewish families in order to finance their search for family members) becomes a major business, something that her children bicker over. The film is at its best in the first installment, where we are allowed to see the strength of the love between William and Sarah, and the first half dozen hurtles they face as a married couple. Once William went away, I found myself becoming somewhat disenchanted with the production, and I became so exasperated in the second installment that I couldn't like any of the later characters. Part of this could be the complaint that the script was rushed in the second half, leaping forward two, four, even ten years at a time. But the acting is absolutely phenomenal, and the leads are magnificent.

Andrews is ever-powerful in whatever part he chooses, from the diabolical to the mischievous, but William is one of his more graceful and winning performances. The sorrow in his eyes at times is just as impacting as the overwhelming charm he heaps on in his romantic scenes. It's almost worth watching the movie just to see him lavish presents on Sarah on Christmas morning. O'Toole has never been one of my favorite actresses, but this performance has completely won me over. Sarah is anguish-driven, vulnerable, and yet incredibly strong. Something that might amuse fans of The Scarlet Pimpernel is that Christopher Villiers plays their eldest son (he was Lord Tony opposite Andrews in Pimpernel). It's a shame that with such fantastic performances, I cannot recommend the miniseries with more enthusiasm.

There is a fair amount of implied sexual content throughout, starting off with Sarah's first husband attempting to rape her in an early scene. William and Sarah are often show undressing and/or passionately kissing; her bare back is shown when she removes her nightgown. Nazis attempt to rape two women, and get as far as pulling up their skirts (only upper leg witnessed) before they are stopped. An actress is shown making love to her husband in a rather risqué scene; she then sneaks out of the house to sleep with his brother. Sarah walks in on them in the barn. A widow spends the night with an old flame. Twice, women are shown with hands covering their bare breasts. There's minimal violence apart from a fistfight, but several birthing scenes that are rather uncomfortable, and the fact that Sarah miscarried after being beaten by her first husband. The beating is not shown; the bruises are. Some of the film was very painful and dark, following family tragedies that ranged from children dying to abuse toward prisoners of war, but there were also some lighter moments. Several scenes in particular stand out in my mind as a testament to the best of human nature, but the fact is that so much sexual content, however mild, puts a damper on what might have otherwise been an impacting film.