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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
This lovely, 1991 adaptation of Elizabeth Von Arnim's novel has a superb cast and a tone so mellow you can feel your pulse get slower. Josie Lawrence and Miranda Richardson play a pair of unhappily married women who rent an Italian villa for a month, sharing the cost with a crusty Englishwoman (Joan Plowright) and a lonely aristocrat (Polly Walker). Sun, rest, sinking into the green grass for long naps--they all have a soulful effect on the quartet, and then on the men in their lives who make a surprise visit. Mike Newell (Four Weddings and a Funeral) directs with seeming effortlessness, and it is impossible not to be swayed by the promise of restoration for these burdened characters--or for anyone alive. Wonderful performances all around, including a particularly sensitive one by Alfred Molina and a very funny one by Jim Broadbent. --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com
Synopsis
This delightful and witty adaptation of Elizabeth Von Arnim's novel has a superb cast and a location that creates a magic of its own. In grey, rainy 1920s England, Lotte and Rose, tired of their overbearing husbands, decide to rent a villa for a month in Portofino, Italy. To share the cost they are joined by two other, very different, women – Lady Caroline, a beautiful but bored socialite and crusty old Mrs. Fisher, who has an impeccable literary pedigree. They all want to escape from trapped lives and in this paradise, in ways they never imagined possible, that is what they all do.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
115 of 116 people found the following review helpful
Format:VHS Tape
Ignore the Time Out and Film Buff reviews, which consign this film to the dustbin of the bland. In fact this film is a consumate allegory on Spiritual Enlightenment.
Appearing almost innocent of its own intentions, the film follows the naive ambitions of a misunderstood and unhappily married young woman to take a villa in Italy with "like minded" companions. This is a singles holiday wound back one hundred years.
But what unfolds is a subtle and exquisitely elegant story of diversely thinking people resolved to their mutual antipathies and psychological flaws.
A simple tale which is all the more intelligent for its restrained and understated poise.
This film is (will be) one of the jewels of 20th Century Cinema. The direction is taut yet breathes, the location is stunning. The script is clever, the cast outstanding.
This is a must have film, and is a welcome antidote to so many other films which gain their kudos through sensation, violence, and essentially empty attempts to impress.
Enchanted April should be compulsory viewing for all those seeking "conflict resolution". It is a better healer than a thousand therapy sessions.
Appearing almost innocent of its own intentions, the film follows the naive ambitions of a misunderstood and unhappily married young woman to take a villa in Italy with "like minded" companions. This is a singles holiday wound back one hundred years.
But what unfolds is a subtle and exquisitely elegant story of diversely thinking people resolved to their mutual antipathies and psychological flaws.
A simple tale which is all the more intelligent for its restrained and understated poise.
This film is (will be) one of the jewels of 20th Century Cinema. The direction is taut yet breathes, the location is stunning. The script is clever, the cast outstanding.
This is a must have film, and is a welcome antidote to so many other films which gain their kudos through sensation, violence, and essentially empty attempts to impress.
Enchanted April should be compulsory viewing for all those seeking "conflict resolution". It is a better healer than a thousand therapy sessions.
110 of 112 people found the following review helpful
Format:VHS Tape
No praise can be too high for this wonderful production; you would have to be a dead stick yourself not to be carried along by it.
Location, not Tuscany but Liguria (Portofino); writing; musical score and impecable acting. Amanda Richardson and Joan Plowright are incapable of putting a foot wrong, but they are by no means left to carry the day alone, and it is impossible to list the various actors in order of merit. At first sight, Polly Walker might seem the weak link in the chain, but she is perfectly cast as the languid, and worldworn aristo, turning in a sterling performance.
The Italian cast are also worthy of mention, and we are left (as is proper) to get the drift of their Italian, or not, and there is plenty of it! The boiler scene is a classic (btw - pericoloso means dangerous).
Classic quote (Mrs. Fisher): "[in my day]..husbands were taken seriously, as the only real impediment to sin."
This film is a MUST HAVE, but don't buy it on video - wait until it is available on DVD. My ropey copy was taped from the TV and requires replacing. It is a disgrace that this, and many another fine production, has not yet been issued on DVD. We all have VCR's, but who wants to buy videos any more?? The BBC seem particularly guilty in this respect.
Amazon please note: can't you log customer DVD searches and exert pressure so that they are released in the UK? The American market is much better served in this respect.
27 of 27 people found the following review helpful
Format:VHS Tape
From grey rainy England, a mad impulse sends four very different women to the sparkling light and sensual flower filled bliss of the sunny Italian coast, where magic begins to work on their souls. Watching this, it will seep into yours as well. You will long for such an experience. This production is therapy for dark nights and a lack of joy, and love.
It contains, for me, one of the most beautiful visual moments I have ever seen on television. The rainstorm has passed, it is morning, and an unexpected light glimmers through the shutters of the quiet bedroom. They are opened and ... heaven!
I join with those who are waiting and hoping for a DVD to be produced. We should start bombarding the BBC with emails!
It contains, for me, one of the most beautiful visual moments I have ever seen on television. The rainstorm has passed, it is morning, and an unexpected light glimmers through the shutters of the quiet bedroom. They are opened and ... heaven!
I join with those who are waiting and hoping for a DVD to be produced. We should start bombarding the BBC with emails!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
afternoon viewing
Excellent! Ideal for a relaxing afternoon's viewing. Nothing too dramatic - but very well acted. Would recommend. Read more
Published 20 days ago by retep
Not worth your time
Of course it's a "woman's film". But, my wife thought it was pretty awful as did I. It got off to a slow and silly start, so we were certain there would be some amazing shift... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Average Joe
Enchanted April
This is one of our favorite feel-good films. We find ourselves watching it time and time again. It is well acted and set in a beautiful place. Read more
Published 1 month ago by arabella
Not bad but let down by slack direction and indifferent photography
My wife and I came away from watching this film dumbfounded at what it was that had caused all the critical acclaim. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Triestino
A delightful film
I first saw this film when it was broadcast by the BBC in 1996. I thoroughly enjoyed it and remember watching it again with friends and how they enjoyed it too. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Susan D
Witty, up-lifting and well-acted film.
This film was released in 1992, possibly following on from the success of "A Room with a View" in 1985. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Richard Mirfin
Enchanted April Viewer Comment
This movie did not meet expectations nor live up to the marketing write-up. It is slow, boring and does not exploit what is potentially a good story line. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Giuseppe
Enchanted April DVD
i first saw this on the TV some years ago and was 'enchanted' by it . When I saw it was available on DVD I was delighted to purchase it and have very much enjoyed it again. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Judith Best
Enchanted April dvd
I bought this dvd for someone else,who already had it! I watched it recently and loved it! Well acted. Very gentle old fashioned film with no swear words in it. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Mrs. Wendy Hope
This is my favourite of all films!
This is the favourite of all films I have ever seen!
The more times I watch it the more I like it!
The more times I watch it the more I like it!
Published 8 months ago by Gisela
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