source: A Month by the Lake

Trailer—A Month by the Lake

A Month by the Lake

A touching and innocent romance story. I have watched this movie many times and compare it to Under the Tuscan Sun and My House in Umbria. Lovely Uma Thurman is very enjoyable as Miss Beaumont who is immature, flirty and completely self absorbed. Her youth and beauty catches the eye of the charming and lovable Edward Fox's lonely Major Wilshaw who is clearly feeling his oats and intent on pleasing this young flower. His endearing qualities and gentlemanly manner are clear and very appealing to Vanessa Redgrave as Miss Bentley and she is completely smitten as she sets out to win the Majors attention and affection. Fox and Redgrave are absolutely compelling in this film. Vanessa is delightful and gives her character a wondrous and youthful anticipation of romance. The setting, the lake, the music and background life at the villa enhance this trio. A rare and excellent movie, very recommendable.

Wonderful story... great acting. If you love the Lake Como area of northern Italy this is for you. A special relationship develops between a man and a woman driven by something much deeper than the lust that permeates most of today's movie-making. Edward Fox is simply magnificent and Ms. Redgrave is at her best. The tranquility of the time will amaze you. The world outside seems to be quickly falling apart as life goes on for the people in the film. If you want to enjoy a few moments of fun with a clever, delightful film this will be perfect. The place in which they are staying does exist but not as a Hotel. If you want to know why people like George Clooney fell in love with Lake Como, see this film. It captured my wife and I from the very beginning. Hollywood is rediscovering this region of Italy. (the Hotel in this movie is the place where Bond recovers from attack in Casino Royale and also part of a Stars movie)

Honestly, what a disappointment. Every. Single. Sentence. Spoken. Like. This. S-l-o-w-l-y. It made me just about jump out of my skin (and I can watch a four-hour silent movie without losing interest for a minute). I haven't written a review here in ages, but this movie needs a warning label. I've seen all three of the stars give fabulous performances so it must have been the director. Here, Redgrave's performance is so weird I couldn't figure out what she thought she was doing. Fox and Thurman could not have known what they were entrusting to the film stock-- performances in an acting style from the distant past...only slower. And the story is so clichéd - out-of-date clichés, not even current ones! - that it was painful to watch. There *can't* be any spoilers, the only element of surprise being that you can't believe the filmmakers would actually dare do anything so obvious. Watch "Enchanted April" for what this might have been.

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.

This film was slow but tedious and the acting often drifted into the land of ham. Redgrave's character was unappealing as the 60 something woman trying to compete with Thurman's 20 something for the love of Fox's character (why is beyond me). The title of the movie should have been "Shallow people on the lake". The actors played like they were in a rehearsal. A dreadfully predictable ending to boot. I can't believe this is on this website as a comedy!

It is 1937, and a spunky spinster (Vanessa Redgrave) is spending a month at a villa on Lake Como. There she meets and is intrigued by a pompous old major (Edward Fox). He, on the other hand, has eyes only for a lovely but cruel young nanny (Uma Thurmon). How could a movie about beautiful Lake Como and a lovelorn English lady go wrong? Apparently, very easily. This terribly-misguided movie has a juvenile script, hammy actors, and poor direction. Even the wardrobe, makeup, and hairdos are way off, looking like contemporary styles rather than pre-WWII. The attraction between the spinster and the major is never explained and their bantering is off-putting as well as boring. Thurmon over-enunciates every syllable and shouts like she's doing a (bad) high school play. None of the stars is believable in their roles. Despite the picturesque location, there's absolutely nothing romantic about this movie. Disappointing.

I am a fan of Vanessa Redgrave (see her in London this year in 'The Inheritance' on stage. I did. Sublime ) But what is she doing in this nonsense? Edward Fox looks like he should be cast in a new version of 'Death in Venice'. It is that kind of sub-sub Luchino Visconti film. It has one supreme surprise in it, the great Alida Valli all too briefly seen. It is worth the novelette trash to see brief scenes with her, but if you have never heard of one of Italy's greatest actresses then do not bother. She was in a good Visconti's 'Senso' and Antomioni's 'Il Grido'. Give yourself an appetite and hunt then down. Pseudo and third rate. And this is Lake Como 1939 well over the brink of Fascism. Who cares here ?