What a gem of a film this is!
Katharine Hepburn, David Lean, 1950's fashion and Venice herself. A bitter-sweet romantic comedy this film has all the right ingredients and takes you back to a time when Hollywood was still making movies that were a joy to watch and showed the stars and directors at their best.
Katharine Hepburn is glorious here. Forget all the Tracy/Hepburn wise-cracking comedies. Here she is allowed to shine. Here we see the comedy of "Bringing up Baby" honed down to a look here, a gesture there - but we also see what was to become the legendary vulnerability. She was 48 when she made this film but she never looked lovelier and Lean photographs her in glorious Technicolour so that her freckled face and auburn hair radiate off the screen. These, together with her spunky personality capture the eye (and heart!) of Renato di Rossi (well played by Rossano Brazzi - eleven years KH's junior) and they play so well together. She as the lonely spinster experiencing love for the first time. He the married man flirting the holiday romance. Or is he?
The minor characters are a foil to the main action (rather like those in Brief Encounter) and work well.
A touching story. Well played, beautifully shot and still a tear-jerker some fifty five years after its release. Hepburn was nominated but missed out on the Oscar for this to Anna Magnini (who she?) for The Rose Tattoo(remember that? - thought not!) but hey, who needs an the Academy vote when you've got a team like this?
Highly recommended but have your Kleenex ready.
Katharine Hepburn, David Lean, 1950's fashion and Venice herself. A bitter-sweet romantic comedy this film has all the right ingredients and takes you back to a time when Hollywood was still making movies that were a joy to watch and showed the stars and directors at their best.
Katharine Hepburn is glorious here. Forget all the Tracy/Hepburn wise-cracking comedies. Here she is allowed to shine. Here we see the comedy of "Bringing up Baby" honed down to a look here, a gesture there - but we also see what was to become the legendary vulnerability. She was 48 when she made this film but she never looked lovelier and Lean photographs her in glorious Technicolour so that her freckled face and auburn hair radiate off the screen. These, together with her spunky personality capture the eye (and heart!) of Renato di Rossi (well played by Rossano Brazzi - eleven years KH's junior) and they play so well together. She as the lonely spinster experiencing love for the first time. He the married man flirting the holiday romance. Or is he?
The minor characters are a foil to the main action (rather like those in Brief Encounter) and work well.
A touching story. Well played, beautifully shot and still a tear-jerker some fifty five years after its release. Hepburn was nominated but missed out on the Oscar for this to Anna Magnini (who she?) for The Rose Tattoo(remember that? - thought not!) but hey, who needs an the Academy vote when you've got a team like this?
Highly recommended but have your Kleenex ready.