Heaven knows she looks miserable now

Adolphe

Rating: * * * * (out of 5)
Director: Benoit Jacquot
Running time: 103 minutes
Language: French
Opens July 3

Wordiness is a problem with many literary adaptations. In the effort to remain loyal to the original work, some cram in more dialogue than is really necessary; the best are those that allow the visuals to take on much of the burden of description and explanation. In this sense, "Adolphe," based on the 19th-century French novel by Benjamin Constant, is a huge success.

There's not a lot of dialogue, and in places that lesser directors than Benoi^t Jacquot ("Tosca") would have characters explaining things to death, he chooses to utilize a few choice visuals. The same goes for the interpretation of descriptive passages. While the novel used about five pages to describe a slight waning of passion on the part of the hero, Adolphe, Jacquot makes do with 20 seconds. It goes like this: Adolphe is at first so eager to see his love that he tears through the forest on his white charger to reach her chateau. In the next segment he slows down to a trot and in the final scene, he makes his horse dawdle among the trees, in no hurry whatsoever.

Of course, "Adolphe" could have been about two hours longer -- but as it is, the work is the equivalent of a Zen garden where minimalism stands for eloquence.