We watched the gentle and moving film ‘Ladies in Lavender’ first in 2006, and remembered liking it, but not much more. So we watched it again last night.
Judi Dench and Maggie Smith star as the elderly sisters Ursula and Janet. Although they look quite different, they have excellent rapport, and it was easy to think of them as being related. Janet, the older sister, is sensible and practical, while Ursula is more dreamy and emotional.
Their ages were not given. The actresses are almost exactly the same age, and were approaching seventy when this film was made in 2004. Ursula could easily have passed for sixty-five, or even younger. But it didn’t much matter. The film is set in 1936, in a small fishing village in Cornwall; most of the inhabitants look fairly elderly.
The two women are spinsters who lost their father fairly recently. Janet, as we learn later in the film, had a love affair in her younger days but lost her young man in the war: presumably World War I. There are hints that another war is on the horizon, and there’s a great deal of suspicion about ‘foreigners’, particularly Germans.
Into Janet and Ursula’s peaceful lives come a young man, washed up on the shore. He is unconscious, but alive and they gradually nurse him as he recovers from a traumatic experience; again, no details are given but he was evidently in a shipwreck of some kind, presumed the only survivor. His name is Andrea, and he speaks no English at all. He is fluent in German but in fact is Polish.
Andrea recovers slowly and demonstrates an incredible talent for the violin. The story, such as it is, involves moving apart, taking risks, and some unrequited (and inappropriate) love. It’s rated 12 in the UK because of one instance of ‘strong’ language and minor violence in a scene involving a jealous villager. There’s some gentle humour, mostly involving the ladies’ maid-of-all-work Dorcas, but overall we thought it poignant, and beautifully done.
The DVD has an extra entitled ‘Soundbites’, which turned out to be brief comments from members of the cast and film crew interspersed with text. It was a bit distracting to watch, but we were interested in what the main three cast members said about each other and the filming.
We were startled to learn that Daniel Brühl, who plays Andrea, did not in fact play the violin nor speak Polish when he was given the role. He learned a little of each, and mimicked passionate violinists so well that we had no idea that someone else was playing the sound.
It's the kind of film that could easily have been based on a true story, but it wasn't. Instead, apparently it was based on a short story by William Locke, written in 1908.
It’s not particularly exciting, and there isn’t a great deal of plot; but we enjoyed seeing it again, and I look forward to seeing it in another ten years or so, by which time I shall be around the same age as Ursula and Janet…
Recommended in a low-key way.
Review copyright 2019 Sue's DVD Reviews
It’s over twelve years since we watched the excellent BBC adaptation of Jane Austen’s classic novel ‘Pride and Prejudice’. It’s a lengthy DVD, about five and a half hours in all, with six episodes. A friend and her teenage daughter had just read the book and asked if they could see this, so - over the course of three evenings - we watched it together.
Jennifer Ehle stars as the delightful Elizabeth Bennet, the most vivacious and intelligent of the five Bennet sisters. Jane, the eldest (Susannah Harker) is considered to be the most beautiful, but we all thought Lizzie to be considerably more appealing and attractive. We meet the family as the Mrs Bennet (brilliantly played by Alison Steadman) is in raptures at the thought of a young and wealthy man, Mr Bingley (Crispin Bonham-Carter) moving into the neighbourhood.
The story is well-known; Mr Bingley is ready to be friendly with everyone and to fall in love with Mary, but his friend Mr Darcy (Colin Firth) is arrogant, and professes his dislike of country balls and social expectations. Mrs Bennet is loud and emotional, changing her mind and preferences as circumstances alter. Her main aim in life is to see her daughters well-married, but this is for her own sake rather than theirs. She is shallow, unable to think beyond her own prejudices and ideas; a caricature, but in places a very amusing one.
I very much liked Mr Bennet (Benjamin Whitrow) who clearly regrets his marriage, but takes refuge in his study whenever he can. He is extremely fond of Lizzie, and also Mary, but does not enjoy the company of his three younger daughters. Mary, the middle one (Lucy Briars) is the academic, ‘bookish’ daughter, played also as a caricature, offering homilies and advice in situations about which she knows nothing. The fourth sister, Kitty (Polly Maberly), is somewhat bland, but I thought Lydia (Julia Sawalha) very well done.
The storyline is familiar, but I had forgotten some of the scenes and interactions, and also the beauty of the photography. The settings are perfect, the costumes exactly right, as I have come to expect with the BBC, and the main characters realistic. Mr Collins (David Bamber) is smarmy and snooty, exactly how I imagined him to be, and Lady Catherine de Burgh (Barbara Leigh-Hunt) as rude and arrogant as the book demands. Perhaps some of the balls are a little sparse, and the rooms smaller than might be expected, but overall I thought the film very well done.
A film of this length can cover a novel well, and we all felt that it was, for the most part, very faithful to the original. If lines were changed here and there, they still fit in with the original theme, and enabled some lengthy dialogue or thoughts to be included in a way that worked for visual drama.
Definitely worth seeing if you have any interest in Jane Austen’s books, whether or not you have read them. Also highly recommended to anyone studying ‘Pride and Prejudice’ for a test or exam.
Other recommended adaptations of Jane Austen books include:
Review copyright 2019 Sue's DVD Reviews
I watched ‘The Lady in the Van’ nearly three years ago when staying with my father. I thought it extremely well done, and eventually added it to my wishlist a few months ago, thinking my husband would enjoy it, and that I would like seeing it again. I was given it for Christmas, and we watched it last night.
While I remembered the overall story - an elderly woman living out of a van comes to stay in the driveway belonging to a writer, in the 1960s - I had forgotten most of the detail. My main reason for wanting to see it again, and share it, was the brilliance of Maggie Smith as the elderly Miss Shepherd.
The make-up artistes were also excellent; at the start of the film we see the ‘lady’ dressed fairly smartly, probably no more than about fifty. When we get to know her, parking in different places in a suburban London street, she is in her early sixties, and quite scruffy. By the time the film ends, she is almost eighty, and could pass for ninety or more.
It’s a character-based film, based on a true story written by Alan Bennett himself after Miss Shepherd dies. Or rather, on a ‘mostly-true’ story, as it becomes plain in the film that some poetic license has been taken. There’s a clever plot device meaning that there are two Alan Bennetts (ably played by Alex Jennings): one who lives life, and the other who sits at his typewriter, writing. They have a lot of interaction and dialogue, and one of the ‘extra’ features explains how this apparent doubling is done.
It’s not a film that would appear to have a lot of special visual effects (other than a somewhat surreal final scene). But as one of the graphics staff explains in the 'extra' feature, having two apparently natural instances of the same person was remarkably complex and painstaking to create.
I probably enjoyed this more the second time around, aware of the story and inevitable outcome, also aware of the underlying tensions in Bennet’s life: his own lifestyle was not something generally accepted at the time. I could also appreciate more the tension he felt between trying to care for his elderly - and increasingly confused - mother, while also fending off the feisty, often rude Miss Shepherd.
The acting is excellent, the pace just right, the locations authentic. It helped, I'm sure, that the crew were able to film in the actual house and front yard where the action happened. The way that Miss Shepherd's past life unfolds slowly - almost reluctantly at times - is beautifully and sensitively done.
We watched all the extras - none of them are particularly long and we both like seeing a few insights from directors and cast members. The real Alan Bennett, who was very involved in the script, gives insights too - in particular how much he appreciated Alex Jennings’ portrayal of him, originally in the theatre production based on his book. If he and Maggie Smith not been available or willing to make the film, it would not have gone ahead.
There are one or two instances of strong language, but they’re not gratuitous. There are strong hints of a violent incident, and also implications about Alan Bennett’s orientation and lifestyle, but nothing that would be considered explicit. The rating in the UK is 12A and in the US PG-13, and that seems about right to me. It wouldn’t be of much interest to anyone younger anyway.
Definitely recommended if you want something a bit different and like ‘mostly true’ stories.
