From the “non-Italian Italian movie” files, I’d like to remind everyone about a twenty-year-old ’20s period piece from Mike Newell. Mike Newell has made some bad movies that must have seemed like a good idea at the time (Prince of Persia, Love in the Time of Cholera) but I love him because he directed a couple of my all time favorites, Four Weddings and a Funeral and the beautiful Enchanted April, set in Portofino, Italy.
The minute I mention a “period piece” my husband goes into a self-induced coma, and a lot of period pieces clearly are not made for heterosexual men, but I’d love to figure out a way to convince him to give this movie about four ladies on holiday at an Italian castle a try. It’s not just “pretty for pretty’s sake”, sentimental, or overwrought with moodiness; it’s a good story with a strong cast – and it’s pretty, too.
It’s the story of Lottie (Josie Lawrence) who needs to get away from her overbearing husband (Alfrend Molina), so she convinces her friend, Rose, (Miranda Richardson) to rent the castle in Portofino for the month of April. Rose could use a holiday, too; she’s a little disconnected from her cheating husband and while Lottie’s tries to put his foot down and forbid the vacation, Rose’s played by Jim Broadbent, is all for it and his face lights up like a Christmas tree when Rose tells him she’ll be away for a month.
To help with the expenses, they find two other ladies, played by Joan Plowright and Polly Walker to share the house, and the unlikely foursome are renewed during their stay, each in the way that they needed it most. From a 1922 novel by Elizabeth Von Arnim, it’s got a very modern twist and while other reviewers have called it feminist, I’d attach no such scary label to it. Yes, it’s about women who stand up for themselves a little, but I didn’t feel like marching around singing “I am Woman Hear Me Roar” afterwards. I did feel a little inspired – maybe even more hopeful, somehow. And I definitely want to make a trip to Portofino soon.
I Love Italian Everything 