LADIES IN LAVENDER

REVIEWED BY CHARITY BISHOP

Our rating: 4 out of 5

Because of: brief strong language, thematic elements

Rated:

A rather quiet and underappreciated little movie, Ladies in Lavender has nothing to say to its audience. It is simply a charming story told well, albeit in a style that won't suit more contemporary audiences. Despite the presence of a defining moment, the film does sport beautiful performances from two of the British screen's most gifted actresses.

Sisters Ursula and Janet (Judi Dench, Maggie Smith) have come to their summer cottage to get away from the busy atmosphere of city life. Quiet and content in their solitude, they are set in their ways and unaccustomed to change. Then comes the night of a storm that washes a young man up on the beach. Mistaken for dead and not speaking a word of English, the young man who they come to know as Andrea (Daniel Brühl) soon becomes a beloved member of the household. He is particularly doted on by Ursula, who takes a peculiar liking to him that doesn't entirely make Janet happy. But she lets her sister alone and allows her to teach Andrea words of English, discovering that their guest is from Poland and was bound for America.

The rest of the village, filled with quaint, charming people, are suspicious of outsiders, particularly with potential war brewing. It is the 1930's and Germans in particular are thought to be dangerous. When Andrea hears some music and insists on being allowed to play, he reveals himself to be a remarkable violinist. Through this talent, he engages the interest of Olga (Natascha McElhone), a visiting European painter whose older brother is a world-renowned violinist. She desires to introduce Andrea to him in an attempt to embolden his career, little knowing that the sisters and most particularly Ursula, stand in her way.

This little movie written and directed by actor Charles Dance (seen most recently as the devious attorney in Masterpiece Theatre's wonderful adaptation of Bleak House) has a particularly charming quality to it, but plays out on rather a demure scale. If you are looking for excitement or passion, you won't find it here. Instead there are beautiful musical scenes and a story of two older women catching a glimpse of the past through their talented guest. The film does not offer very many answers in the sense that it leaves much up to interpretation. It never informs us how Andrea washed up on shore, nor what will become of him later. We get glimpses into the sisters' pasts but never the whole story and it even hints that Ursula may be romantically attached to Andrea, a rather creepy overtone when you consider the fifty-year gap between them.

There is very little to be concerned with by way of objectionable content. The only instance of language that I can recall was a single use of the f-word. We catch men zipping up their pants after urinating on a wall. Ursula saves a lock of Andrea's hair, slips into his room to watch him sleep, and has dreams in which he is rolling through a field of flowers with a girl, who turns out to be Olga. I didn't really care for the mild romantic feelings that she had for him. It seemed awkward and out of place. It's an interesting little film, and both Maggie Smith and Judi Dench truly shine, but simply wasn't my cup of tea.