My House in Umbria (Maggie Smith)

(Amazon UK link)

It's about eight and a half years since we first watched ‘My House in Umbria’, and we had entirely forgotten what it was about. I barely glanced at the box as we put the DVD in to watch last night, and was delighted to hear - and then see - Maggie Smith as the main protagonist. She is playing the part of the successful novelist Emily Delahunte, who lives in a large house in Italy. She’s probably supposed to be in her sixties, or early seventies, and we meet her as she catches a train to Milan, rather at the last minute.

Emily is in a carriage with several other people, and as a writer she naturally glances at them, and wonders about their stories. There’s a young German couple, apparently in the first flushes of romance. There’s an elderly military man (Ronnie Barker) with his daughter, and an American married couple, clearly comfortable with each other, and their daughter Aimee (Emmy Clarke).  Emily speaks to Aimee, who is a little reserved, not helped by her mother telling her not to ask so many questions.

Then disaster strikes out of the blue in a shocking moment - and we next see Emily in hospital, with severe injuries. She recovers gradually, and learns that just three of the people from her carriage survived, one of them being Aimee. Aimee has stopped talking, after the trauma, and doesn’t appear to have any relatives so Emily decides to invite her, together with the other two survivors, to stay at her house in Umbria to convalesce, and to find somewhere to process their grief.

At this point we had remembered at least part of the story, and the locations, which are gorgeous. Emily is an excellent hostess, helped by her friend and colleague Quinty (Timothy Spall). The Major (Ronnie Barker), the young German (Benno Fürmann) and Aimee gradually become like a family, and when Aimee starts talking again - albeit with a lot of memory loss - they all rejoice.

Alongside the story of the growing friendship and healing is an investigation into why the attack happened, and also some flashbacks into Emily’s past, which was one of abuse and neglect. This has perhaps led her to be such a warm-hearted and encouraging person - but as there’s no resolution of the past, it felt a bit superfluous and unnecessary. And she’s shown increasingly as a heavy drinker, something, again, which seems out of character and not entirely relevant to the story.

But the acting is excellent. No surprise with Maggie Smith, but we were also very impressed with Ronnie Barker, who is best known for his stand-up comedy routines. He was entirely believable as the Major. In addition, the scenery is stunning, and the story, overall, encouraging and uplifting. There are even one or two moments of humour, in contrast to the main themes. We hadn’t remembered how it would end - there’s a poignant climax as the party begins to disintegrate after one of Emily’s relatives is found - but then there’s an entirely satisfying (if somewhat unlikely) concluding scene that leaves some hope for the future.

All in all, we liked it very much. The rating is 12, which I think is about right. I don’t recall any bad language, and the references that make it 12 rather than PG are so quickly done that they could easily be missed. Even the horrendous violent incident and the gory hospital scenes are sensitively done, mostly implying what happens rather than showing gratuitous detail.

However, since the main characters are of retirement age, and the issues covered are quite mature, I doubt if  this film would be of interest to anyone younger than about thirty.

Review copyright 2020 Sue's DVD Reviews

Remember Me (Robert Pattison)

(Amazon UK link)

The film ‘Remember Me’ has been sitting in our drawer of DVDs to watch - either new ones, or those we haven’t seen for eight or nine years or more. We haven’t previously seen ‘Remember Me’, but neither of us can remember how we acquired it. Possibly from a church sale, or a thrift store. The blurb on the back made it sound quite heavy going, but last night, we finally decided to watch it.

I wasn’t sure I was going to like it in the early scenes. The film opens in 1991 with a young woman being mugged and then shot at a railway station, leaving a weeping daughter and devastated husband.

It then moves ten years later, where we meet Tyler (Robert Pattison) who is a college student, and who also works in a book shop. He and his friend Aidan (Tate Ellington) share a rather grungy apartment, and are out one evening when they get involved in some street violence. The police are contacted, but Tyler isn’t at all happy with how the situation is resolved, and gets into conflict with Neil (Chris Cooper). Neil is the bereaved husband from 1991, and who is evidently violent and judgemental.

Tyler’s father (Pierce Brosnan) is a wealthy businessman who gets into a lot of arguments with his son, and more-or-less ignores his nine-year-old daughter Caroline (Ruby Jerins). We quickly learn that Tyler had an older brother, Michael, who committed suicide a few years earlier. Tyler is still grieving, and is very protective of his sister. She’s rather a dreamer, and an artistic prodigy, and isn’t just neglected by her father, she’s bullied at school.

And then there’s Ally (Emilie de Ravin), Neil’s daughter, who lost her mother in the opening scenes. She’s a student too, in some of the same classes as Tyler. And Aiden suggests that his friend ask her out, and then treat her badly, to take revenge on her father. Tyler is reluctant, but finds Ally very attractive…

The back of the DVD says that this film is ‘terrifically powerful, hugely moving and totally compelling’. While blurbs often exaggerate, we thought this one absolutely correct. Despite my initial reservations, I was soon totally absorbed in the storyline. It’s quite heavy in places and I didn’t like the violence, nor the shocking ending. But there are some light-hearted scenes as Tyler and Ally’s friendship develops, and some clever dialogue. Then the subplots involving Caroline are poignant and moving, and provide an excellent contrast to the more active, often aggressive scenes involving Tyler.

We didn’t see the ending coming, until right before the climax. It would be a spoiler to give any hints - suffice it to say that I felt slightly cheated at first, but then realised how very powerful it was as a storyline. We watched the ‘making of’ documentary, which explained why the scriptwriter used a significant incident and made a film around it, bringing ordinary, flawed but likeable characters to life, to make the point about ordinary people being involved in unexpected situations.

The acting is excellent, the pace exactly right, the conversation believable. It’s a film we won’t forget; I don’t know if we’ll want to see it again in another few years, or whether it would be difficult to see it, knowing what was coming. But it’s one I would recommend, if only for a piece of important American social history.

The rating is 12 (PG-13 in the US), which slightly surprises me; I’d have thought 15 would be more appropriate. The violent scenes are unpleasant, the scenes of intimacy quite drawn-out (albeit showing nothing explicit) and there’s some bad language, as well as quite disturbing themes. Definitely not for impressionable children or sensitive teens.

But for older teens and adults, definitely recommended.

Review copyright 2020 Sue's DVD Reviews

My House in Umbria (Maggie Smith)

(Amazon UK link)

From time to time, Amazon recommends various films to me based on others I have rated. I can only assume that it suggested 'My House in Umbria' because I have liked other films featuring Dame Maggie Smith. It sounded like an interesting film so I put it on my wishlist, and was given it for Christmas.

Maggie Smith is, indeed, brilliant as the romantic novelist Emily Delahunty. It's only gradually that we learn that she has a very sordid past; I'm not sure that it really adds anything to the plot, other than to show the contrast with her current wealthy and altruistic lifestyle.

On her way to Rome by train, a terrorist bomb explodes, killing four passengers, injuring others - including Emily - and orphaning a child.

I assume this film, which was originally made for TV, is set in about the 1950s, based on the cars, old-fashioned record players and general props. It moves at that kind of pace, and is primarily a character-based story: As the survivors recover, Emily invites them - including the orphaned Aimee - to stay at her house in Umbria. There they all begin to find some measure of healing... at least, until Aimee's rather cold uncle arrives.

Gorgeous scenery, and wonderful acting by Dame Maggie, who must have been about 70 when this was made in 2003, but could easily pass for 60. I was also very impressed with Ronnie Barker, playing an elderly general who lost his daughter in the explosion. It's a far cry from his usual humorous roles. Emmy Clark as Aimee is a bit flat, but then her character is clearly suffering from what we would now call post-traumatic stress disorder. She and Emily strike up an odd friendship, based perhaps on their mutual neediness.

There are one or two moments of humour amidst the slightly dark plot, and a wonderful inspector (Giancarlo Giannini) who is determined to get to the bottom of the explosion. I wasn't sure that I entirely understood the political ramifications, but it didn't much matter.

I suppose my only slight niggle is that Emily's character becomes rather strange towards the end, forcing confidences and drinking too heavily - something that seems unconnected to her earlier character.

Still, the story flows well, and we found ourselves caught up entirely with the diverse people as they gradually blended into a little family. The ending, if a little unlikely, is very satisfying - we liked the film very much.

'My House in Umbria' is rated 12 in the UK, which seems about right to me, given the flashbacks of past abuse in Emily's life. I doubt if it would be of much interest to anyone under the age of about 14 or 15 anyway.

Definitely recommended.

Review copyright Sue's DVD Reviews