Four Last Songs

Without a doubt one of the best and most refreshing films we have seen in a very long time.

Definitely fun and very funny Four Last Songs is a work of real love. I have no truck with one of the other critics here who wrote that the filming was bad - every shot is framed exquisitely, and the lighting, sound, and settings are way above average. The script sparkles with wit, farce, and poignancy - a real surprising feast.

A great set of characters living in their beautifully estranged world in the mountains of Mallorca, a wonderful set of ex-pats and a countess, a muse, a love, two pianists, two brothers - all really well written and showing top performances - honestly, my wife and I really laughed and were really moved by this - just excellent entertainment throughout.

This is not film as beer; rather it is film as wine: to be savored and enjoyed.

It is a time since we have seen a film that is geared at the over 30s that is so refreshingly funny, and so much about life.

Warmly recommended!

I have to disagree with the previous reviewer stating the this movie was poorly cast,directed etc.I am not a movie critic,just a member of the British public who loves movies. I thought this quirky British comedy drama was wonderful.Excellent acting particularly from actress Jessica Hynes(mostly known from UK's Royale Family sitcom).I thought the cinematography was gorgeous,truly capturing the splendour of one of the most beautiful islands in the Mediterranean,Majorca(we have rented a villa on the island for many a year,it is a truly lovely island).Add to this a fabulous soundtrack,makes this one of my favourite movies of the year. 10 out of 10

Actually, I really liked this movie. It was funny and sad and it kept me hooked right to the end. It made one wonder what if we were all put on an island and had to live close together with all our quirks and idiosyncrases exposed. Many of the characters had chosen this Spanish island to either hide or work out their pain or unresolved issues except perhaps the wife of the composer who it appeared was Spanish. I agree with the other commenter, no one in the movie was worried about the priceless piano getting wet except me and the commenter! I feel that the characters were quirky enough to keep one's interest and lots of subplots to make it more interesting. All in all I think this was a good movie.

This film was a shot in the dark. I figured that with a cast like that (Tucci, Ifans, Malone et al.), how could it go wrong? Well, I'm not obsessive enough-or astute enough-to pick out where the problem lies, but after 45 minutes of the story, I bailed. I wasn't interested enough to care what happened to the characters, even to Rhys Ifans, who definitely had the best lines. The synopses you can read in other comments are accurate, but by the halfway point the story still hadn't picked up enough momentum to hint at an interesting outcome. There was one point that bothered me about the proceedings, too: early in the preparations for the concert the dead composer's grand piano is delivered by helicopter to the stage of a natural-i.e., uncovered- amphitheater halfway up a mountain. The story continues, then, a few days later, there is a horrendous thunderstorm that blows in, serves some plot points, then moves on. No mention is made of the priceless Steinway in the open amphitheater. Perhaps there is some use made of the ruined piano later, after the point at which I stopped watching, but nobody even thinks about it during the storm? That struck me as, at best unrealistic, at worst a lapse of the kind I could expect more of in the film. Why bother?

Disclaimer: I know most of the people on whom the characters are (loosely) based, and the area of the production (the village of Deia on the island of Mallorca), and the house in which it's set. I even happened to meet the director as they were getting ready to shoot the film, so I should have a natural tendency to praise this piece.

On the flip side, I've been a writer and, as a young pup, a movie theater manager, so I see a lot of film and video, which perhaps makes me a bit more, um, particular about film making.

The good stuff: The scenery is glorious, with or without the "homesick factor." The opening shot of the little church atop the mountain, with the several-hundred-year-old terraces of olives and fruit below, makes you want to call Iberia and book the next flight to Spain. The restaurant at the Cala, where you first see Miranda and Larry playing music together, is beautiful (great food, by the way) but looks more glamorous than in real life.

The idea of bringing unheard classical music out of the past into modern ears is a good premise, with plenty of subplots going on to keep things interesting, while the idea of my sister popping up in the middle of all these other complications just adds another layer to the stack of amusing plot devices.

On the flip side: I felt that the story didn't flow quite as well as I'd expected, perhaps because the dialog didn't strike me as quite sharp enough. It seems like the actors weren't quite sure where to go or what to say at times, so some of the story got a little lost. (I learned later they were instructed to ad lib most of their lines.)

Nonetheless, I'd give it good marks for a light comedy, set in an idyllic location, with interesting characters, and a different premise from the usual "two strangers meet and fall in love, with laughs for all" that appears to mark the genre these days.