Directed by Fred Schepisi (Australia)

In this adaptation of Patrick White’s novel, director Fred Schepisi ( Six Degrees of Separation) forgoes dramatic tempests and instead offers several fine, highly controlled performances. Elizabeth Hunter (Charlotte Rampling) may be approaching death as she is tended to by servants in her mansion, but she is as capable as ever of manipulating those around her. When her children, Basil (Geoffrey Rush) and Dorothy (Judy Davis) come from abroad to visit Elizabeth on her deathbed, the bitterness and dysfunction that have always characterized their relationships slowly reveal themselves.

Sept. 11, 4:30 p.m., Winter Garden; Sept. 13, 2:30 p.m., AMC 6