A Month by the Lake (1995)
For 16 years Miss Bentley has been spending April at an elegant hillside villa on Lake Como. This year, 1937, her London society artist father has recently died and the only other English-speaking guests are brash Americans. Then Major Wilshaw arrives. He suggests they meet for cocktails and Miss Bentley stands him up -- not even thinking about it -- as she helps the new nanny of an Italian family settle in. Miss Beaumont, a tall, young American who has dropped out of finishing school in Switzerland, is bored and finds some amusement in flirting with the major, whose libido is awakened for the first time since before the great war. And Miss Bentley now finds more about the major to admire than his ears.
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Absolutely Brilliant!
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.
Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.
"A Month by the Lake" is a light comedy and drama about a love late in life for two Brits. It's set in 1937 around beautiful Lake Como, the deep glacial lake in the sub-Alps of Italy and Switzerland. The story is told through the eyes of Miss Bentley who has vacationed at the lake for years since 1913 with her father. He has died recently and this is her first time back at the lake.Miss Bentley is known by the staff of the villa-hotel where she stays, and she is a student of life. She befriends others who come to stay at the villa. This year, she meets a single Englishman, retired Army Major Wilshaw. Also in the mix this year are an Italian family with an American nanny, Miss Beaumont, some loud Americans, and local young Italian males. Vanessa Redgrave and Edward Fox are the seniors who meet and eventually come together. Their many years of single life lead to deep love eventually. This happens after the major is brought to life by the teasing of the young Miss Beaumont, played by Uma Thurman. This is a delightful story of life and single people coming together late in life. The two fine British performers shine in this enjoyable light melodrama. Fox plays a somewhat stuffy Brit - no one can do that better than he. Redgrave is a bouncy and perky spinster who's gentle passion is slowly awakened.The movie is based on a short story of the same title by H.E. (Herbert Ernest) Bates (1905-1975), a prolific English author. Bates wrote more than two dozen novels, several volumes of short stories, numerous collections of essays and non-fiction works, and several children's books. Various of his works have been been made into movies and popular British TV serials. Among these have been "The Purple Plain" of 1947, "Love for Lydia" of 1952, and "The Darling Buds of May" of 1958.This is a movie that allows viewers to slow down from the usual fast-paced action stuff of today. It gives modern audiences a chance to see quality acting by two great talents of the English stage and cinema.
In 1937 Miss Bentley (Vanessa Redgrave 58) summers at lake Como at a hotel she has spent the summer at for 16 years. There she meets Major Wilshaw (Edward Fox 58) and the other main character in this triangle Miss Beaumont (Urma Thurman 28).Bentley is a delightful cheerful character single and is interested in the fusty Major Wilshaw. He in turn has eyes for the 28 year old Miss Beaumont who strings him along in a sadistic way.I guess the only thing that occurred to me is why Miss Bentley would be interested in Major Wilshaw a rather unattractive short man (Redgrave is still rather attractive at 58)...if they had cast someone a bit more handsome than Fox... but then it helps delineate the themes of the story better and makes Miss Beaumont's sadistic flirting much more believable.The first time I saw the movie in 1995 I didn't like Redgrave's Bentley character but this time I did the movie was much better the second time. Something about her hyper flighty too good to be true nature seemed contrived the first time but not really the second? I have aged 15 years and am 59 myself now maybe that is part of it.The movie has a little of the requisite anti fascist political pounding going on from time to time but it is restrained thank God--it would have ruined a well done little story.Good movie watch it.
Miss Bentley (Vanessa Redgrave) has been spending every April at an elegant hillside villa on Lake Como. It's 1937, and her father has recently died. It's supposed to be an uneventful vacation and then Major Wilshaw (Edward Fox) arrives. Next is tall, flirtatious, sassy, young American Miss Beaumont (Uma Thurman). It's all fun and games to her, but her affects are much more powerful than she realizes.It's a breezy film at first like the countryside setting. It is where the rich set vacation. There's some attempts at slapstick with the tennis game. The Italians are mostly cartoonish. Vanessa is easy going. Uma is flashy. When the specter of jealousy arise, the story finally gets going. Instead of using this emotional drama, the story ends and it's wrapped up with a happy ending. It lacks any tension or power. Vanessa Redgrave makes it watchable. It's just a slow watch.
Take two outstanding British actors, give them a clever, witty script, set them in a gorgeous part of Italy and a fascinating era of history, and you can't help but produce a great movie. It's a romance but it's also a delicious send up of the vanity of men and the deviousness of women. Lovely work with superb photography and a haunting musical theme.It captures the essence of pre war Europe and the joy of Italian life even under fascism. Vanessa Redgrave and Edward Fox, two of my very favourite people, didn't disappoint me. Enjoyed it immensely