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A30 PEOPLE & ARTS
Friday 13 September 2019
Adaptation of ‘The Goldfinch’ is elegant but flawed

By LINDSEY BAHR the film keeps the drama, Theo to take his ring back
Associated Press the emotion and the ca- to his business partner Ho-
Everything is beautiful in tharsis at a tidy and safely bie (Jeffrey Wright). Then,
John Crowley’s adaptation compartmentalized dis- Theo takes something else:
of “The Goldfinch ,” even tance, making the expe- Carel Fabritius’ 1654 paint-
the grilled cheese sand- rience of sitting with this ing “The Goldfinch,” which
wich that a kind stranger two and a half hour film he smuggles out through
makes for a boy who has a unique and perplexing the chaos and keeps as a
just lost his mother. It’s easy one. kind of anchor of guilt and
to get swept up by the re- Adapted from Donna shame.
fined stateliness surround- Tartt’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Flashing back between the
ing this messy odyssey of novel, “The Goldfinch” isn’t aftermath of the tragedy
grief and trauma. But like its a failure, but it’s not a suc- and present day, in which
well-pressed and repressed cess either. It’s an ambi- Theo is a grief-wracked,
Anglo-Saxon protagonists, tious effort from a hoard of drug-addled and bespoke
suit wearing New York an-
tique dealer who’s about
This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Nicole to get married and con-
Kidman, left, and Ansel Elgort in a scene from “The Goldfinch,” templating suicide, the film
in theaters on Sept. 13. saves showing the explo-
Associated Press sion till the very end. It’s
talented people, including about a man, Theo Decker an interesting storytelling
Crowley, cinematographer (played, at 13, by Oakes choice, considering it is a
Roger Deakins and actors Fegley and as an adult by prominent part of the trail-
like Nicole Kidman that Ansel Elgort), who is bound er. But it may also be the
gets a bit lost in its literary by a childhood trauma that thing that gets in the way
quirks while attempting to he’s never been able to of the audience connect-
do everything and include convince himself was not ing to Theo’s journey from
everyone. It’s the kind of his fault. His mother died, the beginning.
dense, decade-spanning along with many others, Fegley sells his part, how-
material that perhaps in a bombing of the Met- ever, and after a little ad-
would have been better ropolitan Museum of Art. justment to the rhythms
served by a miniseries like The only reason they were of the film it’s hard not to
HBO has done with “My Bril- there was because he’d be drawn in by this young
liant Friend.” been accused of smoking man who no one seems
But they chose the middle in school and were killing to want to help or counsel
ground: A very long movie time looking at her favorite in any real way. Even the
that requires patience, at paintings before a meeting Barbours, the extremely
least a little knowledge with the principal. wealthy and formal fam-
of the book and some Two things that happen in ily who takes him into their
forgiveness for the things the minutes after the dev- uptown home, offer little
that just don’t work at all astating explosion that actual comforting. Kidman
(namely the romantic sub- will come to define his plays the icily compassion-
plots). “The Goldfinch” is life. First, a dying man asks ate matriarch. q

The Blonds go over-the-top with the

help of ‘Moulin Rouge’

ter, who performed two
songs, the ever-theatrical
design duo stuck to the
musical’s theme, focused
on a cabaret, and stayed
true to their risque style
Monday for the New York
Fashion Week show.
After an opening number
by performers from “Mou-
lin Rouge,” Phillipe Blond
descended from the ceil-
This Sept. 9, 2019 photo shows, foreground from third left, ing in a bedazzled jump-
Jordan Roth, Billy Porter, The Blonds designers David Blond
and Phillipe Blond and Paris Hilton, second right, after the “The suit, matching moto jack-
Blonds x Moulin Rouge!” show during Fashion Week in New et and long, blond locks.
York. They dressed models in
Associated Press corsets, bustier tops, lace
By RAGAN CLARK The Blonds took to the catsuits (worn by men
Associated Press stage of the splashy musi- and women alike) and sti-
NEW YORK (AP) — Run- cal “Moulin Rouge.” letto boots that hit at the
way met Broadway when With the help of Billy Por- ankle, knee or thigh.q