The Last September (2000)

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Saw this, appropriately enough, on St. Patrick's day (along with the more interesting Omagh), and found it difficult to tune in to anybody in the movie. It does have two great actors of the UK screen: Maggie Smith (being serious, for a change), and the always fascinating Michael Gambon. They get to recite some lines that allow them to sparkle, but are really secondary characters to Keely Hawes and David Tennant, two star crossed would be lovers, who talk past each other.Set In Ireland just post the first World War, and with local sentiments rising to rid themselves of the Brits, the movie tries to show metaphorically the divide within Irish breasts. What we get instead are boorish Black and Tans, a sociopathic "freedom fighter" on the run, and a vapid young woman who wants to say yes to romance, but ends up being manhandled instead by a man who, fresh from the kill, wants to shag! Once bitten, she comes back for more and ends up bemoaning the death of the British soldier she spurned for the Irish killer.Keely Hawes is fine to look at, but I have yet to see her really grip a role. Competent, and easy to watch, she manages to get by with looks and the usual perfect English diction. Here she manages quite well to show us a self centered young woman looking for something other than a fine upstanding young man before she has to marry one. She finds a dangerous killer hiding out in the abandoned mill, and knowing full well that he has brutally tortured and killed a bullying British soldier, she decides to tarry and stand mesmerized as he proceeds to get half way through artlessly depriving her of her maidenhood. Interrupted by David Tennant, a willing suitor up against unrequited love, she staggers off half dressed while Tennant allows the killer to escape.Not to fear, intrepid Keely gets another chance to be mauled, and Tennant gets another chance to rescue the maiden who doesn't want rescuing, and gets killed for his pains. Whether Keely ever comes to her senses is not clear. She is distraught at Tennant's death, but never seems to show an inkling of how stupid and reckless she has been.Surrounding this Laurentian tale of lust between the classes are other smaller tales of love lost, and love never found. As a tale of Ireland it is small potatoes.

This is a great piece of work by first time film-maker, Deborah Warner. A stellar cast of film and theatre heavy weights (Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon and Fiona Shaw) star in a Chekhovian "comedy" of changing times and politics. Set among the Anglo Irish, the film is a coming of age story for its young heroine (a great performance from Keeley Hawes) who lives with her aunt and uncle (Smith and Gambon) in aristocratic insulation and isolation from the increasingly violent struggles that edge ever closer. Apart from the performances (Gambon and Shaw being particularly fine), what impresses is Deborah Warner's complete grasp of her material. Her reputation in the theatre is of a quiet, incisive intelligence that can cut to the heart of a text and present it new and clear to the audience. The evidence here is that she has a career every bit as impressive ahead of her in film: The Last September is fluent, assured and extremely watchable, with every last detail (music, design and lighting)beautifully and sympathetically realised. Wonderful.

This movie reminded me of Howard's End. Though Howard's End was much easier to follow, and there were beautiful scenes, it was very boring. In Late September, it was very hard to tell who was related to who and the plot was unrecognizable through the first half of the movie where we suffer through the prattle of supposed problems of the rich. The last half of the movie was more interesting but the ending just trailed off. Some sexuality, one brief, partial nude scene. From 1-10, I rank it as a 3.

A great great film on many levels. As always, Maggie Smith turns in an amazing performance, as she has consistently done so throughout her career. Jane Birkin, Fiona Shaw and Michael Gambon also are wonderful to watch. The story itself is quite moving and engaging. Beautifully filmed and scored.