Ladies in Lavender
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Movie Reviews of Ladies in Lavender
Movie Review: 'If music be the language of love, play on!' : A Fairy Tale
Summary: 5 Stars
Short stories often make better films than full novels as is evident in the case of JD Locke's 'Ladies in Lavender' as adapted for the screen and directed by the multi-talented Charles Dance. Given the barest outline of a quiet little idea of a 'fairy tale', LADIES IN LAVENDER becomes an unfolding meditation of quiet lives altered by an incident that awakens sleeping needs and emotions.
Ursula (Judi Dench) and Janet (Maggie Smith) are elderly sisters living a quiet life of gardening, strolling the cliffs and beach of Cornwall, knitting, and reading. Their bumpy housekeeper Dorcas (Miriam Margolyes) cooks, cleans, shops, and chatters in a wonderful Cornish brogue, allowing the sisters to live an otherwise isolated life - isolated from history, personal emotions, and vulnerabilities. After a storm Ursula spies a figure on the beach below their home and the two descend to find an unconscious handsome young man whom they rescue, house, nurture, mend a broken ankle and ultimately become doting adorers. The young man Andrea (Daniel Brühl) finally awakens, speaks no English as he is Polish, and his charming ways attract inner emotions in both sisters. Janet studies some German and is able to speak with Andreas, while Ursula pastes English words on items in his room to teach him English. He mends and it is discovered that he is a concert violinist who was shipwrecked while striving to go to America. A Russian visitor to the town, Olga (Natascha McElhone), the requisite `evil witch' for a fairy tale, hears Andreas play, informs him she has a cousin who is a famous violinist, and attracts him away from Cornwall to London where he ultimately gives his own concert.
Those are the bare facts of the film's story. The magic lies not in the story itself but in the submerged feelings of the two sisters. Ursula, having never been in love in her youth, falls in love with Andrea, fully aware that there is no possibility of consummation. She feels long desired emotional attachment to the lad and the stirring in her breast is overwhelming to her. Janet, who once loved but lost that love to death, likewise falls for Andrea. It is this sibling rivalry over the passion for Andrea that provides some of the most touching and understated brilliant acting moments ever recorded on film. There is a scene where, resting from a stroll on the cliffs, Andrea rests with his head on Ursula's lap, perhaps the first physical contact with a man she has ever known, and the gentility of the slow and reticent placement of her hand on Andrea's resting head is a crystal of acting magic. How the sisters cope with this time with Andrea and his eventual leaving for his career is the climax of the film. And touching and understated it is.
Judi Dench and Maggie Smith give pitch perfect characterizations, creating two lovely beings we will never forget. Likewise Daniel Brühl is superb in a role far different from his usual German repertoire (Goodbye Lenin!, The Edukators, Love in Thoughts) and manages to create the illusion that he is actually playing the violin (while the true artist is Joshua Bell in some stunning performances). The atmosphere of Cornwall is magically captured by Dance and his cinematographer Peter Biziou with assistance from Ed Rutherford. Nigel Hess has written a musical score, incorporating well-known classical violin works as well as his own hauntingly beautiful music that adds immeasurably to the film's success.
LADIES IN LAVENDER is not a major blockbuster of a success nor does it try to be. It is simply a exquisitely crafted and acted fairy tale that gently reminds us that age does not prevent the heart from responding to that most beautiful of emotions, Love. Highly recommended. Grady Harp, December 05
Movie Review: "Well, we'll have to take him in..."
Summary: 5 Stars
Aging spinsters Ursula (Judi Dench) and Janet (Maggie Smith) spend a quiet life living in a rambling, but comfy cottage settled atop a cliff on the picaresque Cornish coast. There are both gentle, kindly souls who seem to be intent on maintaining a certain frayed propriety as they live out their senior years. The year is 1936, and the sisters, although reasonably content, remain haunted by the ghosts of their past.
Janet was married but widowed young - her husband died in WWI - and Ursula never married at all. Both tended their father until he died, and now measure their days in a predictable routine of meals prepared by the plainspoken, and candid Dorcas (a terrific Miriam Margolyes), as well as spending most of their time taking walks on the rocky beach, gardening, books, knitting, and listening to the wireless radio.
Their lives are irrevocably changed, when one night a terrible storm washes ashore a battered, and bruised young man (Daniel Bruhl) with a broken ankle and no identification. Without question, the sisters take in the stranger and nurse him back to health, gradually discovering that he's Polish, his name is Andrea, and that he's a violin virtuoso, an untapped genius just waiting to be discovered.
The sisters are overjoyed at having such a talented and enigmatic houseguest, and they steadily fawn over him - the pragmatic Janet attempts to speak to him in her shaky German, while the more whimsical and romantic Ursula teaches him some English. But while Janet's attentions are maternal, Ursula becomes romantically infatuated with the handsome youth, even as she's fully, painfully aware how ridiculous it is for a woman her age to lust after a boy young enough to be her grandson.
Their relationship with him becomes strained when Olga Daniloff, (Natascha McElhone) an exotic German painter takes a liking to the talented violinist. Olga is so intent on promoting Andrea's talents that she spurns the attentions of a distinguished, if much older, local doctor (David Warner). Meanwhile, as a new war in Europe looms, some of the locals begin to wonder whether Andrea, and even Olga might be spies.
Ladies in Lavender is small, intimate and leisurely, but it is also extraordinarily well directed and acted. Dame's Maggie Smith and Judy Dench are absolutely phenomenal in bringing out the complex, layered, and at times conflicted emotional lives of these two characters. Smith plays the dower, pragmatic Janet to the hilt, she's well aware of her sister's penchant for indulging in romantic regret, but she's also desperate to protect her from any hurt, while Ursula becomes so caught up in Andrea that she cannot help but yearn for a sort of love that is gone and can never return. It's a heart wrenching, breathtaking, and absolutely powerhouse performance by Ms. Dench.
Director, Charles Dance embeds the narrative with powerfully repressed passions that inflict devastating emotional wounds. Obviously, Janet and Ursula realize that eventually they must let Andrea go, but this casting off comes at a terrible emotional cost, especially for Ursula.
This is British filmmaking at it's finest, with the cinematography gorgeously capturing the natural beauty of Cornwall, while the film also conjures up a by-gone age and its residents so perfectly you find yourself rooting for the most unlikely of characters, their relationships and their all-too-human foibles throughout. This is a lovely, marvelous film, which showcases the remarkable talents of two of the world's greatest actresses; it deserves to go down as one of the years best. Mike Leonard December 05.
Movie Review: Grande Damage
Summary: 5 Stars
Imagine you are walking through a great art museum, overwhelmed by one massive canvas after another. In your rapture you almost walk right past a tiny painting in the corner, an unassuming, faultless Vermeer. That is this movie. Watch it on its own terms, in its own time, and you will certainly love it.
Ladies In Lavender is a star vehicle for two British Grande Dames, Judi Dench and Maggie Smith - that's hard to beat for star power. (Indeed, the only thing missing in this movie is Helen Mirren.) Almost everything except the plot fuels the story, the plot is so small it would be easily lost in the garden these sisters keep. Place is massively important, and brilliantly recreated. Pace is massively important; these people lead simple, slow lives. Most of all, emotional nuance drives the bus here, Maggie Smith can say more with a furrowed brow than any ten Hollywood actors with a well-polished script.
The film invites adult viewers to take an adult look at the many different forms love takes, and their consequences. From the bitter and cynical aging doctor, to the painfully vulnerable and naive Ursula, Dench, to the cool yet kind Janet, Smith, this film weaves leitmotifs with such a deft hand you barely notice. The young man, Andrea, is played adequately by Daniel Bruhl, while Olga, young, manipulative, and ambitious, is the girl everyone loves to hate because she seems to have it all. Olga is played by Natascha McElhone. Ms. McElhone is fortunate to have been blessed with model-esque good looks; if you look carefully you can see her being out-acted by a footstool, a washstand, and a pair of knitting needles.
Those who enjoy metaphor and symbolism will not have to meditate overly long before realizing that the love these aging sisters bestow on their innocent foundling is a give and take proposition. Ultimately they commit the greatest act of selflessness any person can, they must free their "child" and let him live. (Irony here since they are what used to be charmingly referred to as "barren.") In so doing, they allow a great talent to bloom - sharing it with the world. This brings us to the film's other star, Joshua Bell. Bell provides the actual violin virtuosity behind the scenes, and his technique and range are chilling - from barn dance sawing rowdy enough to set the Strad on fire, to subtle trills that could make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. Yes!
Movie Review: Dench,Smith AND Miriam Margolyes in THREE roles of a lifetime
Summary: 5 Stars
LADIES IN LAVENDER was so fascinating in subject matter,soundtrack and skillful acting when I saw it the two times in the theatre,I just knew that this was a DVD that had to be in my collection.
Judi Dench and Maggie Smith are my two favorite actresses.To see them together again ( A ROOM WITH A VIEW) is to watch two undeniable pros in action.This is a film about feelings,and more is communicated by facial expressions and small glances than with words.This is how the great silent screen stars did it...they "had faces" to quote from SUNSET BOULEVARD.
Two spinster sisters in Cornish England, somewhere before WW2 have their lives unexpectedly interrupted when a young man,a Polish foreigner washes up on shore at their cliffside family home.Janet (Smith) and Ursula (Dench) take him under their wings to nurse him to health.They discover,quite comically that he is Polish.Janet discovers that Andreas (Daniel Bruhl)can speak German,so all initial communication goes through these two;but we know from the first glance that Ursula is in love.The subject matter here is that no matter how old we get we can still have "feelings",not always sexual,that are like first love. This is Judi Dench's forte.She knows how to play this character who is so complex, and yet so "naive,...not old and foolish."I never tire of this film. Each viewing gets better and deeper.Amazon sells this gem as low as $3.50.What a bargain to see the cream of the crop at their best.
There is a THIRD woman in LADIES that I would like to give special mention; Miriam Margolyes as Dorcas the housekeeper is my all time favorite supporting role character actress. This English-Bellarussian-gay actor never ceases to amaze me at just how good she is in interpreting different characters;from the High Society of New York in THE AGE OF INNOCENCE to the world of the Hungarian Jew in SUNSHINE to the madcap musical THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS,Margolyes with her unforgettable face and bulk is the true comic relief in LADIES.She keeps the flick from becoming too serious.She is a marvel.Her filmography is astounding for its volume.
Movie Review: tear jerking, provocative, emotional, honest, relaxing, sad...
Summary: 5 Stars
I am a 25 year old male. I have a 65 year old mom. Sometimes I feel like my mom loves me too much! May be it's because she has so many years of her life and I'm only beginning to... But her love is so beautiful, and tender... I know she's there to pray for me at all times. This story is quiet different of course. But it does portray a love of an older lady, just about 65 year old, for a young man, just about in his early 20s. Of course dont' take me wrong, my mom doesn't love me in "that way", ahhh, that's wrong.. but this lady actually does kinda go farther then just a motherly love for this young man they found on a beach... She saves his life of course, but she can't help it but fall in love with him... It's kinda touching because she knows there is nothing she can do. And she knows nothing will ever happen. She knows she's old and naive and silly... Her friend is there to support her, but that's just about it... I say this movie is amazing in every way. And let me tell you, if I was that young man, I'de show at least a little more effection towards the lady... He didn't in my opinnion really apretiate the gift that the ladies gave him... He was too young I guess... but they were too old.. If time ver told him and reminded him of the ladies love, it was probably too late cuz they were gone.... Well they're not gone, not in the movie... I'm just saying...
By the way, this movie is not for those who don't have any clue of what it's like to be old. I am 25, but I do have a 65 year old mom mind you! And I know that age doesn't change a thing. Age is just there to take us away from this world, but no matter how old, we are young. We still have same emotions, same laughter.... Not of course if you try hard to hide it all inside, but that's another story... The point is, if you are young, of if you have never been in love, of if you just dont' quite have any respect for older people, this movie is not for you. Otherwise,
I do recommend this movie. To anyone who loves a great art that's not dead but alive and leaves a tendered touch in your heart afterwords....