Ladies in Lavender. (2004)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Charles Dance

Writers:

William J. Locke (short story)
Charles Dance (written by)

Release Date:

12 November 2004 (UK)

Genre:

Drama | Music | Mystery | Romance

Tagline:

The story of two sisters who saved a stranger, and the stranger who stole their hearts.

Plot:

Two sisters befriend a mysterious foreigner who washes up on the beach of their 1930's Cornish seaside village.

Plot Keywords:

German | Beach | Suspicion | Polish | Violinist

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Judi Dench	...	Ursula
Maggie Smith	...	Janet
Daniel Brühl	...	Andrea
Freddie Jones	...	Jan Pendered
Gregor Henderson-Begg	...	Luke Pendered
Miriam Margolyes	...	Dorcas
David Warner	...	Dr. Francis Mead
Clive Russell	...	Adam Penruddocke
Richard Pears	...	Barry
Natascha McElhone	...	Olga Daniloff
Iain Marshall	...	Fisherman (as Ian Marshall)
Toby Jones	...	Hedley
Trevor Ray	...	Very Old Man 1
John Boswall	...	Very Old Man 2
Joanna Dickens	...	Mrs. Pendered

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for brief strong language.

Runtime:

104 min | Australia:99 min | Australia:103 min (theatrical version) | Argentina:103 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | German | Polish | French

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Germany:o.Al. | Mexico:B | France:U | Brazil:Livre | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Argentina:13 | Sweden:Btl | Finland:K-7 | South Korea:All | Singapore:PG | Australia:M | Ireland:PG | Spain:T | UK:12A | USA:PG-13 | New Zealand:M

Filming Locations:

Cadgwith, Cornwall, England, UK

Company:

UK Film Council

Trivia:

The idea to do Ladies in Lavender came to Charles Dance as he worked on the film Black and White (2002); he was reading a volume of short stories by William J Locke entitled "Faraway Stories".

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: While Andrea is playing at the local party, another violin appears in the lower right hand corner and is being played at the same time that Andrea seems to be playing, but there's only one violin heard at the time. Could it be that the "real" violinist was captured on film by accident?

Quotes:

[Mr. Penruddocke arrives to play his violin for Andrea]
Dorcas: Wipe your feet.
[he does]
Dorcas: All right.
[she motions him inside]
Dorcas: Just a minute, lift them up.
[he lifts one and shows her the bottom of his shoe]
Dorcas: And the other one.
[he lifts the other]
Dorcas: All right.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Best Man (2005)

Soundtrack:

Introduction and Tarantelle Op. 43

The cast breathes life into the story...

When you have a cast headlined by Judi Dench and Maggie Smith, your film is going to do well with their names alone. LADIES IN LAVENDER is saved by these two ladies and their screen presence and the ping-pong-like banter with each other.

The two veteran actresses play Janet (Smith) and Ursula (Dench,) two sisters living a comfortable and mundane life in Cornwall, England in 1936. Janet is a widow and Ursula is a spinster. Their lives are altered when a mysterious young Polish man (Daniel Bruhl)washes up on the beach near their home. They take him in, aid in his recovery from an accident that is never explained, and learn that he is a gifted violinist. Their comfort zone, which is already disturbed, becomes more so when a young German female painter (Natascha McElhone)also shows an interest in the young man.

Like in TEA WITH MUSSOLINI, Maggie Smith's character is the more level-headed and pragmatic, while Judi Dench's Ursula is overly-sensitive and borderline childlike. Miriam Margoyles does a great job as their rough-around-the-edges housekeeper and David Warner, who played "that undertaker of a manservant" in TITANIC, plays an equally creepy character in this film as the town's doctor.

The movie is far from perfect (Ebert and Roeper just gave it "two thumbs down," but it is enjoyable. It is just one little slice in the lives of all of these characters, not giving the viewer much history or much closure at the end. The most poignant sideline is the love that Ursula starts to feel for this young man and, though he is in his 20's and she is in her 70's, you are reminded that one really can't choose who one loves, even when the love is as inconvenient and impossible as this. However, I do agree with the 2 professional critics when they said that Maggie Smith "didn't have a lot to do in this film." This is true. Usually she is just the motherly voice of reason when Dench's character is acting irrational.

When I was at the theater there were many, many senior citizens in the audience. I heard many positive comments from my fellow audience members when the film ended and I think several could relate to the two ladies in the story. As for myself (and in my early 30's) I am still glad I saw it.

Marginally recommended--