Introduction
Welcome to my corner! Last week, I shared my thoughts about the films The Family Stone and Happiest Season to close out the festive holiday season. Rather than going back to public domain short stories, this week, I'll be reviewing the film, Ladies in Lavender. Enjoy!
My original plan was to go back to a public domain story for this week, but time got away from me. And honestly, reviewing movies is a lot easier and more fun for me. I'll probably continue doing both movie review and public domain story reviews going forward. I hope you enjoy them!
Maggie Smith died on September 27, 2024. My mom and I are big fans of her films. After she died, we spent a lot of time watching various movies she starred in, mostly ones we had never seen. Before we could get too far down the list, the Christmas season came upon us. And, with the Christmas season came the parade of endless holiday movies to watch, meaning our Maggie Smith marathon was put on hold.
This weekend, we were finally able to resume our Maggie Smith movie watching. With that, I give you:
Ladies in Lavender
Ladies in Lavender is a 2004 British drama film written and directed by Charles Dance. The screenplay is based on the 1908 short story by William J. Locke. The film stars Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Daniel Brühl, Natascha McElhone, and Miriam Margoyles.
Plot: Aging spinster sisters Ursula (Judi Dench) and Janet (Maggie Smith) discover a young man (Daniel Brühl) near death on the beach by their home in a small Cornish fishing village. Taking him in, they discover that he is Andrea, a violinist from Krakow, Poland, who had been swept off an ocean liner on which he was sailing to a fresh start in America. Although Ursula feels an unfamiliar spark of infatuation for the handsome young musician, propriety suggests the attraction must remain unspoken.
Like a lot of the movies I've reviewed so far in this column, Ladies in Lavender does not suffer for its actresses and actors. Veteran actresses Maggie Smith and Judi Dench are obviously the best part of this movie. Their acting has always been on point, and it's no different for this movie. There were also quite a few Harry Potter actors in Ladies in Lavender, including Smith herself.
No, this movie doesn't suffer because of the acting, but it does suffer for other reasons, at least in my opinion. For one, the movie itself is kind of boring. I'm sad to admit it because I really wanted to like it, but I just didn't enjoy it. There was nothing about Ladies in Lavender that held my attention.
On another note, the infatuation that Ursula (Dench) felt for Andrea (Brühl) really creeped me out. She's a lonely old spinster, I get it, but pining after a young man a quarter of your age is just nasty. And, it continues throughout the out the entire movie. I would feel a lot better about it if it was just played off as 'he's a cute little kid, too bad I'm not any younger' kind of thing, but that's not at all how they were going about it. It was just weird. And honestly, I don't think Andrea ever understood what was going on because he didn't speak English.
At one point, Andrea has to leave, but Ursula runs to her room heartbroken and cries her eyes out like a teenager. it was weird, confusing and very unsettling for me which is the biggest reason why it was hard for me to enjoy this movie.
The exterior settings of the film were beautiful. They were filmed in Cornwall, where the film's story was actually set which is cool. It never seems like they film in the actual locations anymore. The interior settings were fine as well, nothing in particular stood out.
The soundtrack was sweet and soothing: a lot of classical style music, as Andrea is a violinist and the setting is 1936.
After looking at other reviews of Ladies in Lavender, I find myself being the odd one out. It seems this movie is generally well received by audiences, but I'm just not one of them, I guess.
I wouldn't necessarily want to watch this movie again, but I'm not mad that I saw it either. If the infatuation storyline doesn't creep you out, like it does me, give Ladies in Lavender a shot. You might be like everyone else and enjoy it!
That's it for this week! What were your thoughts? Feel free to share them with us! You can call us, email us, visit us at the office, leave us a comment or message on Facebook, or even mail us something. Keep the comments, suggestions, questions, submissions, etc. coming our way! We'd love to hear from you!
