Up at the Villa *1/2
Rated on a 4-star scale Screening venue: Odeon (Liverpool City Centre) Released in the UK by UIP on April 14, 2000; certificate 12; 105 minutes; countries of origin USA/UK; aspect ratio 1.85:1
Directed by Philip Haas; produced by David Brown, Geoff Stier. Written by Belinda Haas; based on the novella by W. Somerset Maugham. Photographed by Maurizio Calvesi; edited by Belinda Haas.
CAST..... Kristin Scott Thomas..... Mary Panton Sean Penn..... Roley Flint Anne Bancroft..... Princess San Fernando James Fox..... Sir Edgar Smith Jeremy Davies..... Karl Richter Derek Jacobi..... Lucky Leadbetter Massimo Ghini..... Beppino Leopardi
It was Akira Kurosawa, I think, or perhaps Luis Buñuel, who said that movies which tell us everything often have nothing to say. It was one of the great directors, anyway, and those guys know what they're talking about. "Up at the Villa" feels like it was made to prove the point. If you removed every bit of its dialogue that strains to make sure we understand obvious details, the film would be half as long. That would be great for the authors, because they'd have plenty of free space in which to insert a comprehensible story.
Kristin Scott Thomas stars as Mary Panton, a young English widow staying in Florence at the advent of Word War Two. She receives a marriage proposal from Sir Edgar Smith (James Fox), a man she does not love, but who could provide her with security. This point is emphasised by an American society lady, Princess San Fernando (Anne Bancroft), who informs her guests "He has his qualities..." while rubbing her fingers together to make clear she's alluding to his money.
Of course, EVERY minor point is emphasised in "Up at the Villa". "Surely he didn't come all the way here just to dance with you," Princess asks Mary, while needlessly adding "He must be wanting to marry you!" We understand what the characters are talking about, but the screenplay keeps providing them with unnecessary clarifications. My reviews have featured a lot of quotations as of late, because sometimes that's the best way to illustrate what a film is like. It's absolutely essential here; the dialogue is the key point, drawing attention to itself by insulting our intelligence and cluttering things up.
There is a love interest for Mary in the movie, a playboy named Roley Flint (Sean Penn). He too gets some awkward lines, the most memorable of which are spoken at a dinner party. The topic of conversation is electricity shortages. "It's because of the munitions factories," says Roley. "They're using up all the power." So far, so good. But then: "They're preparing for war. The situation in Europe is getting really tense right now. Opposing countries are getting ready for armed conflict, and preparing arsenals of weapons."
As the film goes on, Mary finds she needs to turn to Roley for help: After she breaks the heart of a young Austrian refugee (Jeremy Davies), the boy shoots himself in her bedroom, and Roley is needed to help get rid of the corpse. This part of the plot becomes the middle section of the film; it's intended, I suppose, to show Mary and Roley getting to know each other. But it sidetracks the drama by bogging it down in thriller elements -- the characters are closely observed, all right, but as conspirators rather than potential lovers. The emotions of the film get confused and lost, and by the finale I wasn't sure what had happened. Mary ends up with neither Edgar nor Roley, but is this intended as a sad or happy ending, and what made her come to her decision?
"Up at the Villa" was written, directed and edited by the husband and wife team of Philip and Belinda Haas, who adapted the novella by W. Somerset Maugham. It's tempting to say that two people with an intimate psychological connection shouldn't work on a film together without some other significant creative influence, because they run the risk of making it so personal that other people won't understand it. But that's just not true -- think of the wonderful movies made by such auteurs as the Coen, Hughes and Marx brothers. This is a bland and aimless film. I don't know why and I don't much care.
COPYRIGHT(c) 2000 Ian Waldron-Mantgani Please visit, and encourage others to visit, the UK Critic's website, which is located at http://members.aol.com/ukcritic
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