Movies You May Have Missed: Part 2
Our second movie title in the series is the 1991 British release Enchanted April. Movies are rarely charming anymore, but this one is both sweet and amusing. Rose and Lottie, two depressed English women (played by Miranda Richardson and Josie Lawrence) decide to rent an Italian villa. A crochety Mrs. Fisher (Joan Plowright) and bored aristocrat Lady Caroline (Polly Walker) make up the foursome who share the summer rental.
Plowright, her character by turns funny and touching, was nominated for Best Supporting Actress. At one point Lottie asks, after Mrs. Fisher name drops several literary figures, if she knew Keats. Plowright’s indignant, “No, I didn’t, and I didn’t know Shakespeare and Chaucer either!” is one of the best scenes in the movie.
The opening shots the morning after the women arrive at the villa make one want to buy a ticket for Italy immediately. It’s filmed on location, and the cinematography is stunning. The atmosphere has a restorative effect on the villa’s inhabitants, and when Lottie and Rose decide to invite their husbands (played by Alfred Molina and Jim Broadbent) even these less sympathetic characters fall under the its idyllic spell. The film showcases some fine acting and lovely cinematography.
Tags: DVDs