Maggie Smith, finally given a role where she doesn't play a stiff upper-crust snoot, is also the central character in this touching story about an aging lady who takes in and cares for a group of victims who like herself, survived a terrorist attack on the train she was traveling on.
Smith portrays Mrs Emily Delahunty, a blithe and carefree spirit who is also the author of several tawdry romance novels and one that cannot say no to a drink. She operates a quaint bed and breakfast in the midst of a lush Italian valley-side, complete with beautiful scenery and accompanying Summer weather. A tragic trip on a train-ride across the country-side ends in turmoil when her cabin is struck by a terrorist bombing.
Upon her recovery in the hospital, she befriends the small group of survivors who shared the same train cabin as she, including an elderly British gentleman known as The General (Ronnie Barker), a young German journalist known as Werner (Benno Furmann) and a little girl rendered mute from the tragedy known as Amy. It is the special bond Emily and Amy form that is the central story-line to this film, as Emily coaxes her to regain her memory and to speak again.
Barker and Furmann provide formidable characters as the two men drawn into Emily's enchanting world. Giancarlo Giannini portrays a police officer investigating the terrorist attack and it is this story-line that provides the bad to go with the good. One of the survivors of the terrorist attack is directly involved with the machinations of the bombing. Although this story is not exactly a whodunnit mystery, it does seem rather out of place to be entwined with the story-line involving Emily and Amy's friendship.
Chris Cooper appears later in the film as Amy's Uncle Tom who has come from America to claim her under his guardianship. Cooper portrays an entomologist with a lot of skeletons in his closet regarding his restrained feelings about the real reasons for coming to claim Amy and the estranged relationship he had with Amy's mother (his sister) as a result of his current marriage.
All the characters seemed very stiff in this production that is based on William Trevor's novel. I expected Smith's character to be more like the sexually-liberated character of "Miss Jean Brodie", but she seemed to harbor more on the 'drunken lush' aspect that it got to be very trying watching her stagger around in every scene like there was no tomorrow.
Yes, drinking may be a part of Emily Delahunty's character, but it wasn't very pleasant to watch. There is a sense of strong independence beaming from her character, a very dark and unpleasant background to her upbringing and maturity that is heavily censored to ensure a more suitable rating for this film. Smith does wear a lot of beautiful costumes and gets to visit very pleasant scenery, but other than that, I didn't gain much else from this disappointing feature. Cooper and Barker were merely, as they were, 'supporting' characters who you didn't really care about.
I seemed to care more about Furmann's character the most, but I felt the final resolution to his story-line was a bit of a let-down. I'm not exactly sure what I was expecting from this movie, the ending seemed very abrupt and I was left feeling very unsatisfied. Smith does steal the screen every time the camera focuses on her. She has that unmatched beauty and charm that very few actresses have or ever will at her age. But I still felt that she was not given the chance to fully make use of her character. I kept waiting for that one scene where she would explode and remind us again as to why she is the recipient of two Academy Awards and countless nominations.
Unfortunately, that scene never came, and all the in-between stuff just feels like you've been watching this movie for many hours. "My House In Umbria" is probably a film that most would not watch multiple times, but it is something you should probably watch at least once.
My Rating - 5 out of 10
Smith portrays Mrs Emily Delahunty, a blithe and carefree spirit who is also the author of several tawdry romance novels and one that cannot say no to a drink. She operates a quaint bed and breakfast in the midst of a lush Italian valley-side, complete with beautiful scenery and accompanying Summer weather. A tragic trip on a train-ride across the country-side ends in turmoil when her cabin is struck by a terrorist bombing.
Upon her recovery in the hospital, she befriends the small group of survivors who shared the same train cabin as she, including an elderly British gentleman known as The General (Ronnie Barker), a young German journalist known as Werner (Benno Furmann) and a little girl rendered mute from the tragedy known as Amy. It is the special bond Emily and Amy form that is the central story-line to this film, as Emily coaxes her to regain her memory and to speak again.
Barker and Furmann provide formidable characters as the two men drawn into Emily's enchanting world. Giancarlo Giannini portrays a police officer investigating the terrorist attack and it is this story-line that provides the bad to go with the good. One of the survivors of the terrorist attack is directly involved with the machinations of the bombing. Although this story is not exactly a whodunnit mystery, it does seem rather out of place to be entwined with the story-line involving Emily and Amy's friendship.
Chris Cooper appears later in the film as Amy's Uncle Tom who has come from America to claim her under his guardianship. Cooper portrays an entomologist with a lot of skeletons in his closet regarding his restrained feelings about the real reasons for coming to claim Amy and the estranged relationship he had with Amy's mother (his sister) as a result of his current marriage.
All the characters seemed very stiff in this production that is based on William Trevor's novel. I expected Smith's character to be more like the sexually-liberated character of "Miss Jean Brodie", but she seemed to harbor more on the 'drunken lush' aspect that it got to be very trying watching her stagger around in every scene like there was no tomorrow.
Yes, drinking may be a part of Emily Delahunty's character, but it wasn't very pleasant to watch. There is a sense of strong independence beaming from her character, a very dark and unpleasant background to her upbringing and maturity that is heavily censored to ensure a more suitable rating for this film. Smith does wear a lot of beautiful costumes and gets to visit very pleasant scenery, but other than that, I didn't gain much else from this disappointing feature. Cooper and Barker were merely, as they were, 'supporting' characters who you didn't really care about.
I seemed to care more about Furmann's character the most, but I felt the final resolution to his story-line was a bit of a let-down. I'm not exactly sure what I was expecting from this movie, the ending seemed very abrupt and I was left feeling very unsatisfied. Smith does steal the screen every time the camera focuses on her. She has that unmatched beauty and charm that very few actresses have or ever will at her age. But I still felt that she was not given the chance to fully make use of her character. I kept waiting for that one scene where she would explode and remind us again as to why she is the recipient of two Academy Awards and countless nominations.
Unfortunately, that scene never came, and all the in-between stuff just feels like you've been watching this movie for many hours. "My House In Umbria" is probably a film that most would not watch multiple times, but it is something you should probably watch at least once.
My Rating - 5 out of 10