August 9, 2005
mini-review: Ladies in Lavender
Not as bad as many of the reviews would suggest. Charles Dance does the writing and directing, and does a fairly good job. In terms of the acting, it's a little hard to see Dame Judi Dench mooning after a man in his twenties (Daniel Bruhl's Andrea), but otherwise she delivers her usual effective and interesting performance. Dame Maggie Smith is a little too de-clawed in this one, but again, like Dench, she can't really give an uninteresting performance (to see this pairing in another film, see Zeffirelli's Tea With Mussolini).
But it's not just the ladies that many viewers (including this one) come to this movie to see. The lavender--that is the shots of a lovely, seaside Cornish cottage, it's garden, the sea below it--is also an important part of the appeal of this film. If you don't like Merchant-Ivory-like evocations of the twilight of the Empire, you probably won't like this one.
And I must note as a budding fiber artist that there could definitely be more knitting in this film!
The music--Andrea is a secret violin prodigy--is pretty good too, if you like classical violin music, and the lovely Natasha McElhone as Olga is always worth seeing on the big screen.