This is what happens when you take a long, strange novel and try to shoehorn it into a movie format.
All the weird quirkiness and unexplained little mysteries are wiped out, and you end up with a melodramatic romance which barely makes sense at several points because all the background is gone.
The photography is gorgeous, the big frilly dresses are sumptuous, and the talented cast do a great job, but without a coherent story it doesn't pack much of an emotional punch.