Basil

Poor Basil -- an imaginative youngster, he delights in frightening his cousin Clara and disobeying his authoritarian father (Sir Derek Jacobi). When older brother Ralph impregnates a local girl and disgraces the family, Basil becomes sole heir to the fortune. Witnessing his father's philandering, Basil boldly informs his mother, only to watch her collapse from consumption. Fast-forward: now an Oxford undergrad, Basil (Jared Leto) befriends a commoner, John (Christian Slater, also co-producer), who saves him from drowning on the Cornwall coast and helps him to woo and marry a beautiful middle-class girl (Basquiat's Claire Forlani). Found out, Basil is disinherited and must make his way alone, though he manages to exact some revenge along the way.

This gothic tale of passion and revenge is adapted from a story by Wilkie Collins, and it brims with oh-so-Victorian sexual tension and barely repressed rage. Breathtaking cinematography and first-rate performances (especially the quietly monstrous Jacobi and the luscious Forlani, who is astoundingly good) make this a rich and satisfying addition to the vast array of Victorian-era films. At the Museum of Fine Arts, May 1.

-- Peg Aloi