Hotel du lac (Anna Massey)

(Amazon UK link)

It’s over ten years since we watched the film ‘Hotel du lac’, and we had totally forgotten what it was about. So we decided to watch it last night. It’s not a long film - well under 90 minutes - and it was made in 1986, based on a book of the same name (though I have not read it).

Anna Massey stars as the middle-aged writer Edith. She’s been quite successful in writing romantic fiction, though she mostly keeps quiet about it; she writes under a pseudonym. She lives in the UK, but at the start of the film she’s being sent into a kind of exile, to a hotel in Europe, by a lake. 

She’s apparently committed a terrible crime, though this seems at odds with her quiet, unassuming behaviour. But underneath the drab clothes and calm demeanor, there’s a woman of passion - as we discover through flashbacks, where she has an affair with a married man. I wondered if this, perhaps, was the terrible crime. But Edith regularly writes letters to the man she loves, speaking aloud as she writes so we learn what she’s thinking - and many of them lead to scenes from previous years and months.

There are some other guests in the hotel, some played by well-known actors. Edith initially makes educated guesses as to who they all are, only to discover that she’s wrong in almost every respect. There’s Monica, for instance (Patricia Hodge) who is bored, cynical and looks down on almost everyone. Then there’s the dreadful chatterbox Mrs Pusey (Googie Withers) who is accompanied by her unlikely daughter Jennifer (Julia McKenzie). There are others, too. There’s some humour in some of the conversation, but it mostly felt rather sad to me, albeit caricatured.

Into Edith’s life - and the hotel - comes the rather handsome Philip (Denholme Elliot) who is clearly rather attracted to her. She is hesitant at first, but eventually agrees to go for a walk for him, and a meal. 

The acting is good, the pace about right, if a tad slow in places. There’s not a lot of action, or indeed much of a story, other than Edith having to make some decisions about her future. The scenery is gorgeous, although sadly our DVD quality isn’t great; possibly because this was originally made for TV rather than as a film, so the outside scenes look very grainy.

The rating is PG, which seems about right; I don’t recall any bad language, nor any violence. There’s the aftermath of one bedroom scene, but nothing is shown other than heads. I can’t imagine children having any interest in this, or even younger teenagers, as it all involves adults and adult relationships. There’s a slightly unexpected ending leaving a lot of things open.

I’m not sure I’ll want to see this again. I didn’t feel it particularly inspiring or even encouraging. 

However, it’s pleasant enough viewing and it’s nice to see a film that isn’t too long, sometimes.  Certainly worth seeing once - or maybe twice, as we have. And perhaps we’ll decide to see it again in another decade or so.

The film no longer seems to be available new, or even to download; but the DVD can sometimes be found second-hand.  Our DVD has no extras. 

Review copyright 2026 Sue's DVD Reviews