A Handful of Dust (1988)
Directed by Charles Sturridge
Genres - Drama |
Sub-Genres - Period Film |
Release Date - Jun 24, 1988 (USA) |
Run Time - 115 min. |
Countries - United Kingdom, United States |
MPAA Rating - PG
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Synopsis by Hal Erickson
Based on a novel by Evelyn Waugh, Handful of Dust is set amongst Britain's aristocracy of the 1930s. At sumptuous Hetton Abbey, tradition-bound country squire James Wilby and his wife Kristin Scott Thomas open their doors to well-connected but impoverished Rupert Graves. Graves returns Wilby's hospitality by having an affair with Scott Thomas, while Wilby gamboles about his estate without a clue of what is going on. Wilby's cloistered world comes tumbling down when Scott Thomas coolly demands a divorce, shortly after the accidental death of their young son. Wilby discovers that his divorce settlement will cost him Hetton Abbey; he faces this circumstance by not facing it at all, preferring to escape to South America, stiff upper lip intact, in the company of a dotty explorer.
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Themes
Keywords
abbey, British, death-in-family, divorce, extramarital-affair, house-guest, love-triangle