TEA WITH MUSSOLINI
Reviewed by Harvey Karten, Ph.D. G2 Films Director: Franco Zeffirelli Writer: John Mortimer, Franco Zeffirelli Cast: Cher, Judi Dench, Joan Plowright, Maggie Smith, Lily Tomlin
Centering on a group of feisty women yet too arty to be called a chick flick, with its subjects too old to designate this a date movie, "Tea With Mussolini" is an opulent production that typifies its director's craftsmanship. This sentimental and autobiographical work features frequently witty dialogue and superb acting by a team of true professionals with solid insight into the minds of people so set in their ways that they refuse to recognize the realities of the political turmoil encircling them. "Tea With Mussolini" is a filmed version of the first three chapters of film director Franco Zeffirelli's autobiography, adapted for the screen by scripter John Mortimer--whose expertise about Italy during the 1930's serves the project well. We come away from the picture with a better understanding of how childhood influences affect a director's output. Zeffirelli's entire yield--his lush, innovative filmed versions of such Shakespearean plays as "Romeo and Juliet, "The Taming of the Shrew," "Hamlet" and "Othello"-- might not have been possible had not a group of women known as the Scorpioni (for the their biting wit) stamped their influence on him early on. Making bold use of his imagination--particularly in casting two outrageously handsome young men as his youthful stand-ins and in implying that he was a member of the Italian resistance against the German occupation force--Zeffirelli paints an ambivalent portrait of a circle of English and American women who arrogantly stand up to Italians with whom their countries are at war. Refusing to heed warnings to go home before war is declared, they emerge a few years older but none the wiser for their troubles.
The women, eccentrically diverse, form a community in the Florence of the 1930's, and include the group's doyenne, Lady Hester (Maggie Smith), the widow of the British ambassador to Italy; Arabella Delancey (Judi Dench), who copies frescoes in the Uffizi Gallery and is followed everywhere by her beloved dog; Mary Wallace (Joan Plowright), who does secretarial work for the clothing manufacturer who has fathered a boy, Luca, out of the wedlock; the stunning and fabulously rich American Elsa Morganthall (Cher), who is in Florence to collect modern art; and Georgie (Lily Tomlin), who is in Italy on a dig and is an out-of-closet lesbian decades before this was fashionable.
The film opens in 1935 as war clouds hover over Europe and ends with the liberation of Florence from German occupiers by Scottish troops. Loosely plotted, the story begins in the office of a clothing manufacturer who refuses to take responsibility for Luca (Charlie Lucas), his out-of- wedlock son who is cared for by the industrialist's secretary and translator, Mary (Joan Plowright). Through Mary, who at one point builds a miniature set with puppets representing Romeo and Juliet, Luca gains a thorough appreciation for Shakespeare. Lady Hester (Maggie Smith), the de facto center of the group of English expatriate women, is confident that she and her circle would always be safe in Italy, because she had been invited to tea with Mussolini, who promised that no harm would ever come to her and her friends. In a surprisingly low-key and often weepy role, Judi Dench plays the part of a mediocre painter of frescoes while the most flamboyant presence is Cher, who performs in the role of Esta, a boorish American yet benevolent art collector who believes she is entitled by her affluence to possess a particular painting of Picasso. Esta's gaudy presence serves as a catalyst for some of the movie's wittiest lines, as Lady Hester, noting the sky-high concoction of desert that she purchases for Luca, remarks "The Americans even vulgarize ice cream."
When Italy opportunistically declares war against France and England in June 1940, the women are rounded up and herded into a one-room hovel, but Elsa secretly pays the bills at a nearby hotel, enabling the circle to live as though the war does not exist. The entire story of these "biddies" comes to us through the eyes of Luca (Baird Wallace as the Zeffirelli stand-in at age 17), a mature young man who has come to love the women who have befriended him and in a couple of instances secretly delivers passport to the hands of those who desperately need to get out of Italy.
"Tea with Mussolini" is exquisitely filmed by David Watkin-- whose previous work includes cinematography for "Out of Africa." Sites include Florence, Rome and the medieval town of San Gimignano--which retains the ambiance of 14th century Italy. Perhaps the most positive feature of the epic work is the insight we are given into the psyche of its director, while at the same time we bear witness to performances by some of the great actresses of our generation. The principal flaw is the overly sentimental treatment Zeffirelli furnishes of the Italian fascisti--who treat the "enemy" women with deference, even fearing their sharp retorts and condemnations. Even the German occupiers are soft-pedaled. As the subjugating troops retreat from Florence and prepare to blow up a historic tower, the women chain themselves to the wall, forcing the Germans to back way and decline the planned destruction. After all, though, most of us look back to our childhoods remembering the good times and censoring the adverse. Franco Zeffirelli shows us a good time indeed.
Rated PG. Running Time: 117 minutes. (C) 1999 Harvey Karten
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews