Breakinger A Brilliant Conflict

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

screenidol How is it possible to have a cast the likes of Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Lily Tomlin, Cher and Joan Plowright (who was excellent), and wind up with a movie drama that's almost laughable? I guess the buck stops at director Franco Zeffirelli. The dialog ran the gamut from mundane to cliché to idiotic. The camera close-ups were suggesting strong emotional content when there wasn't any. The music seemed completely out of place at times, with very moving dramatic classical music at times when, again, there was very little in the way of drama. And the cast? These stellar stars were the worst I've ever seen them (Joan Plowright excepted), with every utterance feeling pushed and overacted, so I can only guess they were directed that way. I felt as if I were watching a comedy, or at lest something filmed for its humor, when, in fact, the subject matter is quite serious. If you want to see it because of this story, then, by all means, have a go. But if your looking for an engrossing film, don't be fooled by the all-star cast -- give this one a miss!

lasttimeisaw Now I'm thinking of how to rank this film, underrated? or just deserves its lukewarm greeting when first came into theaters in 1999. Director Franco Zeffirelli (Brother Sun, Sister Moon 1972) was at his twilight time when shot this film (he was 76 then), which undeniably means there is scare chance that any director could launch another career apex (late bloomers are not included). Firstly for any film aficionados, the vintage cast consists of Cher, Maggie, Judi, Joan and Lily has an irresistible allure which only indicates that it will not dash my hope of an enchanting 2-hour stretch. The film gets Cher plays herself, divine and vulnerable at the same time, although I don't buy it when she would make such a rash and unexplained mistake in the latter story, maybe Paolo Seganti is too hot to resist (who knows, he is killingly delicious here). My favorite performance here is Dame Maggie Smith, whose acute spinster character is again fun to watch, alongside her old confidante Dame Judi Dench, a more vivacious image as Arabella, the art guardian. Joan Plowright's part is a heartrending one and Lily Tomlin's lesbian fashion could never be better for her. After all, this is a biographic story of Zeffirelli himself and our protagonist is Luca, whose adolescent ceremony co-occurs with WWII, which profoundly affects those expatriate ladies. This is a substantially feel-good film, and I must say I did enjoy the film, Zeffirelli failed to keep the balance to not reveal his conspicuous contrivances of bolstering the emotional momentum, so it leaves me some artificial impulse to discern some biased point-of-view about British chauvinism and American flattery, anyway, nothing to do with Italians, eventually.

nitro2038 I was really disappointed with this film. The only reason I watched it was because of Dame Maggie Smith (who I adore) and Cher (because I was intrigued). I felt as though the director wanted to create a mass-murder using boredom. The plot is bizarre. Consider the grandson (or whatever the hell he was - he rarely spoke) of Dame Maggie's character. They dressed him as a girl so he would be imprisoned with the old ladies in the tower. It was slightly amusing at first, but he somehow manages to continue the deceit to the point that one of the guard's wanted to date him - despite his totally unconvincing appearance as a woman. If this was a comedy, that might be funny a la 'Some Like It Hot'. But this is supposed to be a drama? The kid (and later teenager) Luca was boring and clearly included in the story to make old ladies go 'awwwww'. I always cringe when I see the period piece British snob living abroad parading around like they are god while declaring the 'natives' are backwards. Just awful. The only bright spot was, astonishingly, Cher. The artistic and highly ostentatious character she played suited her - in fact you could believe it was Cher 1940's style. Dame Judy Dench looked weird. Lily Tomlin looked as though she stepped out of 'Raiders of the Lost Ark'. I found myself wanting something awful to happen to these old ladies, which is mean, but I couldn't help it. I actually laughed when the 'facists' threw their tea and paintings out the window (and I secretly wished that dog had gone as well - despite being a dog lover). The locations and scenery are beautiful though.

wilson-strutte Well worth seeing. Fabulous acting by all and a completely different slant on World War 2. It is very British but bear in mind that this is actually what happened to Zefferelli, as a boy, who Directed the film (Luca in the film). Superb photography throughout as would be expected from him. Totally absorbing. Do not hesitate in watching this film. It is not a comedy, although there are some amusing lines, but a serious view of events in Italy during the war. The English actresses are superb with no-one grabbing the film. Cher is a total surprise and very good as is Lily Tomlin. The sound is not perfect but everything else is.