A Month by the Lake

"A Month by the Lake" has strong parallels with "Up at the Villa" as both films are about the idle rich who spend time at a villa in the North of Italy in the days prior to WWII. "A Month..." is a sublime story about a very starched Brit (Fox) and a somewhat capricious lady (Redgrave). Both mature, in late middle age, the principals stumble along on a collision course with love in this sweet, airy, picture postcard perfect little tale. An enjoyable watch for more mature audiences. A must see for Redgrave fans.

And for me, that's what movies are all about, whether it be the Disney Cinderella that was my first movie ever, or this last, A Month by the Lake, that is the place I want to be, in some other realm outside my own experience. And this movie fulfills that desire on many fronts and also kept me guessing from beginning to end.

The performances of the cast were extraordinary in the most difficult of materials, an understated script and the repressive natures of the leads. Vanessa Redgrave -playing Miss Bentley, a beyond middle-age spinster of uncertain age - does much with this. In her outwardly almost flirtatious behaviour you catch the loneliness within, but barely. You determine she does have an interest in pursuing the major, she hears his voice in a dining room and then goes in slow pursuit but practically stands him up on the first 'date' and for no earthly reason we can determine.

Edward Fox - playing Major Wilsaw a retired colonel from WW1 - has the major down pat, the peacocky walk, the clipped sentences, the fear lurking behind the eyes, all embodying the pre-war world of 1937 in Italy on Lake Como.

Uma Thurman, in one of her first 'airings' plays Miss Beaumont, a young woman taking a position as a nanny to a wealthy Italian family staying at the same resort as Miss Bentley and Major Wilshaw who flirts one thinks rather cruelly with the Major leading him on in boredom but does she, we wonder, when the movie takes off in unexpected directions.

Vanessa is sexy and wonderful, you sense there is an unstated other life underlying her character as there is with Major Wilshaw. Uma is the ingénue of a kind, an unmanageable young woman, incorrigible as another era would have it, sent to straighten herself out in Europe far away from disgracing her family in America. She is the innocent abroad, or is she. She assumes an avid interest in the photographs Miss Bentley takes of the young man in love with Miss Bentley (a scene contrived by Miss Bentley) and is astounded at Miss Bentley's capacity to captivate.

It meanders along from there with beautiful cinematography and an unforgettable tennis game. Too slow moving for many tastes. Wonderful eccentric characters - too odd for some - played to the hilt by a stellar cast. 8 out of 10.

A Month By The Lake, a wonderful little film. Set at the eve of World War 2 in Italy at Lake Como. A love triangle occurs between Redgrave, Fox and Thurman. The comic aspect is done very well, notible for its Tennis and boating scenes. But this also has a sad aspect as the Major(Fox) thinks that Miss Beaumont(Thurman) is in love with him, but is really only having a little fun teasing him. The lake is so wonderful and so are the photographs that Miss Bentley take.John Irvin gives good direction to the film which again adds effect and beauty. One of my favourite films it captured me. A film of very rare excellence with three top actors of past and present. 5 out of 5, wonderful.

Since George Clooney and his rat pack seem to be bringing back a certain cachet to Italy's Lake Como, it's worth revisiting this picture-postcard pretty 1995 romantic comedy directed by John Irvin since it is set there before the onset of WWII. The lightweight plot focuses on a beautiful, elegant villa in the summer of 1937 where Miss Bentley has already spent sixteen summers with her father. Adored by the staff, she spends her first summer there after her father has died, and on her first day, she is immediately drawn to the polite but rather pompous Major Wilshaw. In typical movie-only fashion, they meet repeatedly, awkwardly and fractiously, in particular, over a tennis match where she defeats the major with ease in front of a most enthusiastic group. There is unavoidable but unspoken chemistry between the two, but further complications ensue with the arrival of Miss Beaumont, the young, flirtatious nanny of a wealthy Italian family staying at the villa. Miss Beaumont manages to convince Wilshaw that she loves him, and he becomes instantly enamored. On her side, Miss Bentley attracts the attention of a much younger admirer named Vittorio, a local Vespa-riding lothario intent on seducing her amid his raging hormones.

As you can imagine, the complications sort themselves out, but the clever way that Irvin and screenwriter Trevor Bentham handle the story, while patently old-fashioned, is also charming and sometimes quite perceptive about how more mature people approach love. In a rare comedic turn that immediately recalls Kate Hepburn circa 1955's "Summertime", Vanessa Redgrave redefines any preconceived image one would have of a spinster, as she brings buoyant energy and a blessed lack of self-consciousness to the independent Miss Bentley. Even though she makes no attempt at assimilating into the period with her most contemporary look, she shows off a deft skill for romantic foreplay for likely the first time since she was a mod swinger in the 1960's with movies like "Morgan!". Her athleticism is also impressive whether on the tennis court or in the lake swimming the backstroke, though her rather androgynous look wouldn't seem like it would attract the not altogether unwelcome attentions of horny Italian boys.

The other points of the triangle are not as fully drawn. Edward Fox plays the major with a stiff upper lip and glowers appropriately in every scene where he loses his dignity - which is often. Fresh off "Pulp Fiction", Uma Thurman plays a man-eating vamp in broad strokes, and her constant delight in humiliating the major gets tiresome. Her beauty, however, is inarguable and Wilshaw's obsession understandable. There is some intriguing casting on the sidelines - as the moony Vittorio, Alessandro Gassman (son of actor Vittorio Gassman) would play the viral maniac in "Transporter 2" a decade later; and the proprietress of the villa, Signora Fascioli, is played by Alida Valli 46 years after her seductive turn as Harry Lime's lover Anna in Carol Reed's "The Third Man" with only her still-sultry eyes recognizable (sadly she passed away today - April 22, 2006). The beauty of Lake Como is captured in all its shimmering light by cinematographer Pasqualino De Santis, and Nicola Piovani's music score provides the right evocative flavor for the period. It's a sweet, entertaining movie, brief at 91 minutes, and definitely for viewers fond of travelogue movies like Mike Newell's "Enchanted April" and Audrey Wells' "Under the Tuscan Sun". The 2003 DVD has no extras.

I chose this movie for our Valentine's night movie and it was perfect! It is a romance for and about mature people -- that is, people in the later years of their lives. If you are in your teens or even 20's, this movie may not appeal to you. And if you like hot, sweaty sexual scenes, it will definitely disappoint. It is flirtatious, funny, elegant, tasteful, uplifting and amusing. The scenery and setting at Lake Como, Italy in 1937 are serene and beautiful. They don't make many movies like this anymore; finding this 1995 jewel was a rare pleasure.