Opiniones de usuarios

Had a bad day? Dog bit the mailman? Car wouldn't start? People got on your nerves? Then refresh yourself with a delightful experience.

Two women decide to pool their resources in answer to an ad for a month's rental of a villa in Italy. Due to financial circumstances, two other women join them. Two have humdrum marital lives; one is an elderly woman who prefers to live in the past; the fourth is a wealthy and beautiful woman wholly jaded by life.

As the spell of the villa permeates their spirits, each grows in her own way and is uplifted in her outlook. This also changes the people in their lives who have visited them. As they leave you know the magic of the villa will remain with them...and you will find your outlook altered, for the better. A delightfully uplifting movie!

Nice character development in a pretty cool milieu. Being a male, I'm probably not qualified to totally understand it, but they do a nice job of establishing the restrictive Victorian environment from the start. It isn't as bleak as it really was and the treatment of women was probably even harsher. What makes this go is a wonderful chemistry among the principal characters. Each has their own "thing" that they contend with. Once they come out of the rain and break out of the spider webs, they begin to interact and slowly lose their sense of suspicion. What I enjoyed about this movie is that it didn't go for cheap comedy when it could have. It didn't try to pound a lesson into us. The people who seem utterly without merit are really nicely developed human beings who get to see the light. I did have a little trouble with the Alfred Molina character having such an epiphany so quickly, but, within this world, it needed to happen. Good acting all around with something positive taking place in the lives of some pretty good people.

Two thirds of nearly 2,000 IMDb users who have voted on this film have rated it at 8, 9 or 10 and one user reports wearing out six videotapes (Was this a record, or merely a faulty VCR?). Although the film is primarily intended as a period piece it clearly has a quite unusual fascination. But for some reason I imagined it as largely whimsy and until recently never felt the urge to watch it. My mind was changed by Elizbeth Von Arnim's original book. My wife loves reading but her sight no longer allows her to read much so she borrowed it in talking book form. Such books are usually irritating to a companion who is busy with other things, but I gradually came to appreciate that this one was seductively soothing, although in no way syrupy, and was also very well written. I realised my wife would enjoy watching the film, and so decided to buy her the videotape. I am now very glad that I did, and would certainly recommend its purchase to anyone else who appreciates a quiet reflective work with no fireworks but with well constructed character development and a very successful pre-Mussolini Italian atmosphere. The story is set in the immediate post WW1 period and starts with two married London ladies who decide to pool their savings and enjoy a holiday together, away from their families, in a rented villa in Italy. Force of circumstances lead to this couple being joined by two others with very different characters and backgrounds. Its theme is essentially no more than the interactions that take place as their holiday progresses, not only between these four very disparate mature ladies, but also with the occasional male visitor. If you want action, thrills, dramatic sex scenes, natural or man-made disasters, or Harlequin style romances this would not be the film for you. But IMDb users have collectively and very emphatically demonstrated that none of these are necessary for a film to prove highly rewarding to watch, and if you care to give it a try you may, as I did, come to rank it among your much loved films.

It is fairly rare for me to watch a film of a book with which I am already familiar. In many cases I find this takes some of the pleasure away from watching the film, but here there is such a strong visual appeal in the setting that I actually found my pleasure augmented by the anticipation of seeing the next segment of the book, effectively unrolled before my eyes. (Perhaps Italy itself has some part in this, the last time I had this experience was when I was watching tales from Boccaccio's Decameron on TV.) Generally films of books tend to increase the dramatic level of the original work to ensure that the filmed version has an even wider appeal, but here if anything it is reduced in order to keep the viewers attention on the gradual character development rather than on any background events. This works very well, although changes from the book are few and basically the film remains true to the original story. Great credit is due to the Director, Mike Newell, and all members of the cast, particularly those well known British Actresses who play the four principal ladies.

I just adore this movie. I am on my 6th video and have great hopes they will eventually release it on DVD. It is a wonderful story about 4 women who stay at a villa in Italy and how their relationships change while there.

The cast is full of well known British actors and they are brilliant in their roles. I watch this movie when I feel the need to relax and unwind. It is very well directed and tends to follow the book pretty closely, which is unusual for a director. The scenery and the script are both delightful. I recommend this movie to anyone who wants to escape from reality, even if only for a short period of time. When ever I play this film, I can almost imagine being in Italy with the smell of flowers and feel the sunshine. Four stars****

Enchanted April is a lovely film about two women who are both starved for attention from husbands who barely acknowledge them, and their time away in a beautiful Italian villa. The cast is terrific, including Alfred Molina and Joan Plowright. Beautifully photographed and well acted.

"Magic" isn't too strong a word for the spell this film weaves. You find yourself relaxing, and seeing others in a more benevolent light... Any movie that has that civilizing an effect on viewers deserves serious attention. Seldom are we soaked in beauty like this. As if that weren't enough, it's funny. Performances are, without exception, extraordinary, but special mention must be made of the miraculous Miranda Richardson, and the superb Josie Walker - both open like roses.

Why ISN'T this film on DVD? It deserves to live forever.

This was a very good film. I didn't go into it with very high expectations and was pleasantly surprised by the acting, the script, and the scenery. Miranda Richardson was fantastic and so was Joan Plowright. They stole the show. But the other actors played their parts wonderfully also. Very enjoyable film.

This is a lovely, spirit-restoring movie. From the use of the actual villa that inspired Elizabeth Arngrim to write the novel in the 1920s to the inspired casting, every choice was perfectly right! The quiet joy of this film doesn't stale after repeated viewings. Josie Lawrence, Miranda Richardson, Polly Walker and Joan Plowright seem to have been born to play these parts! I would dearly love to see Enchanted April released on DVD in a widescreen format.

I thought this was going to be a simple girl power movie (which I wouldn't have minded tbh). However, it ended up being surprisingly positive and hopeful. A fairly realistic depiction of complicated relationships and multilayered characters make this movie not to sweet nor too bitter. I admit I watched it for the perfect Michael Kitchen, and I was not disappointed :) Can someone please name him the greatest actor of all time? Anyway, I was quite surprised by how good this movie is.

I always tell people that "Enchanted April" is an adult movie with no cussing, no sex, and no violence. One might think of it as "the ultimate chick flick", but I bet there are one or two enlightened men out there who love it too. Don't invite the kids, though. This movie is very low-key.

Seeing "Enchanted April" is a very healing experience. The sound track and gorgeous scenery, along with the ladies' gentle manners, bring to mind the peace and beauty of a pre-Raphaelite painting.

Lest anyone think yours truly only watches one kind of movie, I will paraphrase a line I heard once on "Saturday Night Live" and say that my two favorite movies are "The Deer Hunter" and "Enchanted April".

The seismic importance of doing nothing in a new environment, preferably, a picturesque one, brings the quartet of four British women together from the inclement and dreary London in 1920s, to a whole month vacation in San Salvatore, Italy. Mrs. Lottie Wilkins (Lawrence) is the eager enabler, who relentlessly eggs on Mrs. Rose Arbuthnot (Richardson) to be her traveling companion and share the 60 pound rent from the proprietor George Briggs (Kitchen). Later, they are joined by another two guests the gorgeous socialite Caroline Dester (Walker) and the grumpy elderly widow Ms. Fisher (Plowright).

This four women each has their very distinctive characteristics, Lottie is married to a steady but unimaginative lawyer Mellersh (Molina), whose business intuition and practicality always precede romantic consideration in their torpid marriage. But Lottie is an irrepressible happy-go-lucky, as she often states, she can see inside of a person, socially clumsy and frivolous, nevertheless, she never represses to be herself and is a perpetual transporter of mirth and cheerfulness no matter how inarticulate she is. Rose is a more levelheaded type, but also entrapped in a stagnant marriage with Frederick (Broadbent), a swinging novelist, as she laments, "I bore him, and it is impossible to un-bore a person?", sexually- oppressed, her life needs to be reinvigorated. Caroline, is a young woman who owns everything, beauty, social status, wealth and countless suitors, yet, she is fundamentally disturbed by the emptiness of all of them, she needs time and space to think and un-think, a rich girl's blues. Finally Ms. Fisher, whose dame aura is a deterrent to cheap sympathy, piercingly ruminates her co-existence with solitude and battles the reliance on her walking stick.

Directed by Newell before his career vertex FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL (1994, 7/10), the film is comfortably confident with its ethereal location and simply storyline, most of the time nothing is happening, it is just 4 women enjoys their holiday with occasional and harmless bickering, cozily accompanied by some gleeful references of cultural discrepancy, embellishing with the straightforward Italian farce in the background. Then comes the high point when Mellersh, George and Frederick are all joined in the same room, a whiff of budding romance, awkward encounter and rekindled passion all materialise in the final act, but Newell maintains a firm hand not to let it slip into a chaotic fuss, instead, the vacation ends in a dignified fashion with which everyone seems to be content although as the ending implies, there is another story when they are back in London. A journey can rarely alter one's entire path-of-life, but it is a remedial getaway everyone needs (although a pretext is that you can afford it, with your nest egg sometimes), and it is a film in urgent demand of a BluRay upgrade, for all its stunning scenery and fine performances.

Plowright won a Golden Globe and is Oscar-nominated for her mighty assurance and resounding thespian background, but can one buy her about-turn completely in the end? Not for me. The unheralded Polly Walker, is captivating to behold by her force of personality, evades any pretension one can reasonably expect judging by her character's background, and indeed she is the one generates more pathos among them all. Miranda Richardson, this versatile British actress, who is still under-appreciated although being twice Oscar-nominated, establishes adequate poignancy with subtlety while drawing a veil over her certain scene-stealing revelation, which syncs flawlessly with Josie Lawrence's adorable imprudence. In the gent department, as clearly in the supporting category, only Molina's expressive formality registers a strong impression. After all, ENCHANTED APRIL is not just a must-see for Anglophiles, it also has a unique weightless charm renders itself distinctive, you should give it a try, and hopefully, with a BluRay version in the near-future.

"My child, my sister, dream

How sweet all things would seem

Were we in that kind land to live together,

And there love slow and long,

There love and die among

Those scenes that image you, that sumptuous weather."

Charles Baudelaire

Based on the novel by Elizabeth Von Arnim, "Enachanted April" can be described in one sentence – it takes place in the early 1920s when four London women, four strangers decide to rent a castle in Italy for the month of April. It is the correct description but it will not prepare you for the fact that "Enchanted April" - an ultimate "feel good" movie is perfection of its genre. Lovely and sunny, tender and peaceful, kind and magical, it is like a ray of sun on your face during springtime when you want to close your eyes and smile and stop this moment of serene happiness and cherish it forever. This is the movie that actually affected my life. I watched it during the difficult times when I was lost, unhappy and very lonely, when I had to deal with the sad and tragic events and to come to terms with some unflattering truth about myself. It helped me to regain my optimism and hope that anything could be changed and anything is possible. I had promised to myself then that no matter what, I would pull myself out of misery and self-pity and I would appreciate every minute of life - with its joy and its sadness...I promised myself that I would go to Italy and later that year I did and I was not alone.

Charming, enchanting, and heartwarming, "Enchanted April" is one of the best movies ever made and my eternal love. This little film is a diamond of highest quality.

In depressing post-war London, Lottie Wilkins (Josie Lawrence) reads a newspaper ad for an Italian castle. Fellow Nightingale Women's Club member Rose Arbuthnot (Miranda Richardson) reads the same ad. Despite being relative strangers, Lottie is desperate to convince Rose to join her on vacation. Lottie suffers under her overbearing husband Mellersh (Alfred Molina). Rose has disinterested husband Frederick (Jim Broadbent). The women are joined by snooty widower Mrs. Fisher (Joan Plowright) and the enigmatic Lady Caroline Dester (Polly Walker).

These are compelling characters. Lottie and Rose's joy from simply deciding to go on the trip is heart-breaking. Once in Italy, the sunshine actually shone through the screen. One can feel the simple healthy energy. I wouldn't mind if the husbands never showed up there. It would be great if the women gain back more of their personal identity before they are swallowed up by their relationships. It is still nice to be rejuvenated by the countryside.

There's a breath of spring feeling about ENCHANTED APRIL--nothing deep, just a story of four women who want to escape from it all, share a villa in Italy, and find that the enchanted environment brings about small changes in each one of them in a positive manner.

MIRANDA RICHARDSON is the quiet housewife who seems to think her husband is bored with her; POLLY WALKER is a pretty socialite who wants to be admired for more than her beauty; JOAN PLOWBRIGHT is a crotchety older woman who learns to appreciate friendship when it's offered; and JOSIE LAWRENCE is the rather scatterbrained, almost eccentric woman who is unsure about her marriage until she invites her husband (JIM BROADBENT) to the charming place in the country where she feels nothing but good vibes. MICHAEL KITCHEN is the owner of the villa who falls for Richardson, thinking she's a widow, but then finds consolation with the pretty socialite who appreciates that he didn't warm up to her on the basis of her looks alone (he's nearsighted).

Most humorous aspect of the story is the relationship between Walker and her hubby, ALFRED MOLINA, whose relaxing bath turns into one of the films only "explosive" moments when he fails to understand Italian and the meaning of the word for dangerous.

It's a simple tale, woven tightly together by the four strands of storytelling, and passes the time pleasantly enough even though there are times when nothing seems to be happening. The pace is very slow, even for a film with a running time of little more than an hour and thirty minutes, so it's not a tale for every taste. It's a quietly reflective character study of perfect strangers learning about each other.

Nicely photographed in Italian locations, it's visually pleasing and easy to take, but really nothing special happens here.

If anyone is wondering why no one makes movies like they used to, with conversation, character and a simple theme of friendship struggling to evolve into something new, better and different, those folks need to take in this film and see top notch writing, directing, and acting that melds into a wonderful evening of observation on how things used to be in Italy and England. Other days, other times funneled into a terrific comedy of entertainment, made in 1992 with Alfred Molina, Joan Plowright, Polly Walker, Josie Lawrence, Jim Broadbent, Miranda Richardson, and Michael Kitchens in the major roles. Under the brush stroke direction of Mike Newell, these actors accomplish vividly memorable performances that are photographed with a sublimely subtle painter's eye. Reminiscent of the theatrical bedroom farce of the turn of the century, this film might be called a friendship farce that becomes a worthwhile experience in the growth of the romantic nature within each character, and the viewer, too. An artistic telegram on the importance of caring about those around us.

Filmed with an obvious love for the "enchanting" locale, I thoroughly enjoyed it until the end, which I find rather abrupt, tidy, and not a little bourgeois. Something about these portrayals of women desperate to escape their English lives strikes me as very sad, and very irritating if done too neatly. Nonetheless, the acting is fine and the book is certainly more clever in wrapping everything up.

My all-time favorite movie. Oscar-caliber work by everyone involved, both in front of and behind the camera. The screenplay is perfect, and works out the relationship between Lady Caroline and George Briggs in a completely satisfying way, unlike the novel. The care with which the other leading characters have been drawn is a tribute to screen writer Peter Barnes, and the intense visual beauty should have won Oscars for director Mike Newell and cinematographer Rex Maidment. It is Josie Lawrence's best work by far, and transformed my opinion of Joan Plowright. Having watched this movie at least 50 times, I can find no fault in it. The music, by famed composer Richard Rodney Bennet is a marvel.

If you are in the mood for a feel good movie, then you must definitely go for it. The film is a reminder of the absolute enchantment & bliss you feel when you are on a trip which fortunately turned out better than you had anticipated! But be forewarned, the plot is very thin in places. Also, the supporting characters have not been developed properly.

After being involved in the theatrical version i find the film version disjointed and boring. Lines said by one character in the play are said by a different character in the film and some characters have entirely different names. There also seems to me an excessive amount of editing between locations. (There is even more jumping around between London scenes than the play.) Also the scene where Mellersh is eating near the beginning of the film i find repulsive and unnecessary. Once the action moves to Italy the film improves, but not enough to save it ultimately. Jim Broadbent, although an actor i enjoy watching, was miscast in this outing.