There's something about 19th century English rural tragedy that induces the easy giggle where none was intended. 'She's a queer sort - always 'as been,' mutters Tom Bell darkly, with one of several ruddy-cheeked cameos in this rainswept adaptation of the Joseph Conrad story. 'She' is his daughter Amy who, being played by Rachel Weisz, is buxom and beautiful, but also an incommunicative girl whose rapport is with the sea. Enter Yanko (Vincent Perez), only survivor of East European refugees after a shipwreck. His smouldering eyes see into Amy's pixilated soul and they become inseparable. Alas, the villagers are hostile to this 'alien' couple, paving the way for predictable Conradian tragedy. The film is finally quite moving but, despite the sincere and sometimes impassioned performances of the stars, it takes a long time getting there.

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