The Portrait of a Lady is a 1996 British-American film directed by Jane Campion and adapted by Laura Jones from Henry James' 1881 novel of the same name.

It received two nominations at the 69th Academy Awards: Best Supporting Actress (Hershey) and Best Costume Design (Janet Patterson).

The film tells the story of Isabel Archer, an innocent young woman of independent means manipulated by her "friend" Madame Merle, and the devious Gilbert Osmond.

Isabel Archer is a woman who has already rejected many suitors, including the wealthy Lord Warburton and Caspar Goodwood, to whom she had initially given hope.

Gilbert is a widower and has a daughter Pansy, who grew up in a convent and is not allowed to leave the house, even to walk in the garden, when her father is away.

Isabel finds herself trapped in Rome in an unhappy marriage with a fear of her abusive husband, who gradually disconnects her from all of her friends.

The consensus summarizes: "Beautiful, indulgently heady, and pretentious, The Portrait of a Lady paints Jane Campion's directorial shortcomings in too bright a light.

"[4] On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating, the film has a score of 60 out of 100, based on 18 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".