Basil (film)
| Basil | |
|---|---|
DVD cover
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| Directed by | Radha Bharadwaj |
| Produced by | Radha Bharadwaj |
| Written by | Radha Bharadwaj |
| Based on |
by Wilkie Collins |
| Starring |
Christian Slater Jared Leto Claire Forlani |
| Music by | Richard G Mitchell |
| Cinematography | David Johnson |
| Edited by | Craig Nisker |
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Production
company |
Showcareer Limited Production
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| Distributed by | Buena Vista International |
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Release date
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Running time
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113 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Basil is a 1998 British historical drama film directed by Radha Bharadwaj and starring Christian Slater, Jared Leto, Claire Forlani and Derek Jacobi. It was based on the 1852 novel Basil by Victorian author Wilkie Collins. The adaptation is by Bharadwaj.
Basil (Jared Leto) is a young British who grew up on the country estate of Windermere Hall. His father, Frederick (Derek Jacobi), is a traditionalist who believes that there are things people of their class should never do. One of those things is romancing the women of lower classes, and Frederick threatens to disinherit Basil as he did Ralph, his elder son, should he also succumb to this temptation.
Whilst on holiday from his studies in Oxford, young Basil happens to meet a commoner named John Mannion (Christian Slater) whom he later befriends, against his father's wishes and behind his back. Through John the young aristocrat meets Julia Sherwin (Claire Forlani), the beautiful daughter of a London merchant. Later, in a rash move shortly before he can inherit, and against the initial council of John, Basil secretly marries Julia. She uses his amorous advances to extract gifts and even his promise that she should own Windermere Hall. By chance, he finds Julia in bed with John, following which Basil viciously attacks him in the street, kicking him repeatedly.
Afterwards, Basil delivers Julia's child, then hears John coming up the stairs. Basil hides, seeing John with a mask covering his face. As Julia tries to lift it, John says, "Remember me as I was, not what I am now". Julia dies in John's arms after confessing the child is his, not Basil's.
All John wants is to take the child and leave. Basil hears this and chases after John with a knife. As they fight, Basil pulls down John's mask, revealing John's mutilated face. John sees the reflection of his face in the blade of the knife, leading him to take his life by jumping off a cliff.
Basil takes the newborn child and escapes to Ireland, naming her Clara, after his childhood friend and orphaned cousin Clara Fairfax. On his return to England over a decade later, whilst walking with his daughter, Basil chances to meets his cousin Clara. She then takes Basil's daughter for hot chocolate, telling him to speak once more to his aged father. Basil's father admits that he disowned both Basil, and Ralph before him, because his son's affairs both reminded him of his own betrayal of his bedridden wife in his youth. Basil's father now regrets his infidelity, professing he loved Basil's mother deeply. Basil and his father reconcile as the film ends.
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