Product Description

Starring screen favorite Miranda Richardson (SLEEPY HOLLOW, THE CRYING GAME) Robert Louis Stevenson's ST. IVES is a witty, romantic comedy in the spirited style of EMMA and AN IDEAL HUSBAND. During the Napoleonic Wars, a handsome French officer, Captain Jacques St. Ives (Jean-Marc Barr -- DANCER IN THE DARK), is captured in battle and brought to a prisoner of war camp in Scotland. Once there, adventure and daring await when he meets and falls in love with a beautiful local woman (Anna Friel -- ROGUE TRADER), befriends the prison camp's British Major (Richard E. Grant -- SPICE WORLD), and discovers his long-lost grandfather living just down the road

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #41571 in DVD
• Brand: Buena Vista Home Video
• Released on: 2001-09-11
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 90 minutes

Amazon.com
Not to be confused with the Charles Bronson vehicle of the same name, St. Ives--All for Love when it debuted on the BBC--is based on St. Ives: Being the Adventures of a French Prisoner in England, by Robert Louis Stevenson. The irreverent tale revolves around the exploits of Captain Jacques St. Ives (Jean-Marc Barr from The Big Blue). In 1813 he's captured by the British and thrown in jail; things aren't all bad, however. While there, he meets the droll Miss Gilchrist (Miranda Richardson) and her lovely niece, Flora (Anna Friel), who take an interest in the prisoner. For Jacques and Flora, it's love at first sight--although Major Chevening (Richard E. Grant) had his eye on her first. Not long afterward, Jacques escapes and makes an enemy out of his long lost brother Alain (Jason Isaacs), who's been living in Scotland and looking to take over the family fortune upon the death of their grandfather (Michael Gough, Alfred from the Batman series); Jacques thought Alain had been killed with their parents during the French Revolution. The escaped prisoner represents a threat to his brother and to the major, and things can only get worse for him... or can they? St. Ives looks and feels much like a Masterpiece Theatre production, but with a more humorous bent (as well as a little nudity). Sometimes the humor works (mostly when Richardson and Grant are on the screen), sometimes not (Barr is less consistent), but it's rarely as stuffy as most other literary adaptations. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Customer Reviews

The best British period drama ever!
I saw this film, when it was first shown on British television and I just loved it. Having already been a big fan of the gorgeous Jean Marc Barr, star of the 1988 movie The Big Blue, I was intrigued to find the fanastic Frenchman playing the title role of St.Ives, a captain of the french army captured by the British in the Napoleonic wars. Starring a cast of the best actors Britain has to offer - Miranda Richardson (Blackadder), Richard E Grant (Withnail & I) and Anna Friel (Mad Cows) just to name a few, a witty and occasionally hillarious script, and a passionate and heart-warming love story, how could anyone not be entertained by this film. If you thought all British period dramas were stuffy affairs, all breetches and corsets, think again. St. Ives has everything from duelling brothers to an English Channel crossing hot-air balloon flight. A film that has a little bit of everything for the whole family to enjoy!

A delightful and charming little film...
I saw this movie in a hotel in Inverary, Scotland and it took me three years to finally figure out what it actually was called. I never forgot it and when I saw a preview on another movie I have, I immediatly ordered it.

St. Ives is an utterly delicious romp. It is charming, funny, and romantic, with momemtary lapses in humour that so many comedies these days seem to lack. It follows the adventures of Jaques St. Ives (played with great skill by Jean-Marc Barr) one of Napolean's hussars. St. Ives, after contriving to get himself demoted in order to escape a number of duels inadvertanly tumbles into a camp of British soldiers and ends up in Scotland as a prisoner of war. There he meets charming Miss Flora and her wordly aunt (Anna Friel and Miranda Richardson) and comes across the uptight Major, played with hilarious British prudishness by Richard E Grant. After a daring escape, a run in with his long lost brother, and a balloon ride, everything settles nicely down to a very happy, sweet ending.

The film is perfectly cast. Jean-Marc Barr traipses through it with suave French heroicism, and Miranda Richardson sparkles as an interesting combination of proper British lady and worldly adventureous. Anna Friel is fresh faced and innocent, her laugh is infectous and Richard E. Grant kept me laughing. Jason Iasacs is also notable as St. Ives' brother.

It is a vividly shot film, with the colours bright and pure, and the soundtrack bounces along in perfect accordance to the light, humourous feel of the movie. In essense, this movie is a miniature feast for the eyes, and the heart.

Excellent...treat yourself to a little fun and romance....
I bought this film on a whim and will watch it more than once. The DVD version has been digitally mastered and is very beautiful--the blues and reds of the English and French uniforms, the greens of the countryside, the stunning blue of the hot air baloon, the white sand of the coast.

Robert Louis Stevenson, a 19th Century English writer whose illustrious compatriots include Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, and Jane Eyre wrote ST IVES--the book the film is based upon. This tale is somewhat reminiscent of a Jane Austen story with its lover's angst, but it lacks Austen's irony and amazing plot twists. Also, Janie did not include the blood and guts and sex depicted on the screen in ST IVES--but did Robinson? In some ways, ST IVES is more akin to the French tales of the Ancien regime (VALMONT) than the English tales of the Regency period, but unlike the French stories, this tale is relatively upbeat (there are some deaths).

Perhaps one might liken ST IVES to the Scarlet Pimpernel but the hero is a real Frenchman, not an English Aristocrat posing as one. St Ives is also fighting for Napoleon when he isn't dueling "wanabees" or chasing pretty women. One day, St Ives finds himself an English prisoner-of-war after back-slapping pal (his second at his numerous duels) unwittingly causes him to slide down an embankment into the waiting arms of British soldiers.

St Ives captors transport him to Scotland, where he is placed under the watchful eye and lock and key of Major Chevening who is a bit resentful of having been kept out of the fracas on the continent. Chevening has been ineffectively courting the delicious Flora, niece of Miss Gilcrist. In an amazing turn of events, Miss Gilchrist (who is extemely worldly) and St. Ives are soon both coaching Major Chevening concerning his courting strategies.

ST IVES is a hero, not the place with kits, cats, sacks and wives as I thought all these years, and the gentleman's name is pronounced "Santeff". Miranda Richardson is wonderful as Miss Gilcrist (she is related to the Redgraves and Natasha). Richard Grant is oh so funny as Major Chevening, and he and Miss Gilcrist have some very amusing scenes together. I had not heard of the two younger actors who play St Ives and his love interest, but they are also very good. The plotline of ST IVES is not as well developed as Austen's story PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, if it were it would be as well known, but it is as well developed as NORTHANGER ABBY. The characters are two-dimensional, but real enough that one cares what happens to them. The film's strengths include moments of sadness, humor, and above all lots of love-making.