Swept From the Sea

(Columbia TriStar)

Based on Joseph Conrad's short story "Amy Foster," this adaptation by Beeban Kidron (Used People; To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar) is set in 19th-century Cornwall, where the strapping Ukrainian Yanko (Vincent Perez), the sole survivor of an immigrant ship, stumbles inland and onto the farm where Amy (the beguiling, otherworldly Rachel Weisz) works. Despite occasional lapses into sentimentality, the film looks authentic and is brilliantly acted, making Kidron's first foray into period drama a memorable one.