MY HOUSE IN UMBRIA
US, 2004, 103 minutes, Colour.
Maggie Smith, Ronnie Barker, Timothy Spall, Chris Cooper, Giancarlo Giannini.
Directed by Richard Loncraine.
Adapted from a novella by William Trevor, this is a very civilised entertainment, the kind they pick for Royal Command Performances. It is an interesting drama for adults, especially for those who are not as young as they used to be.
The plot is generally unpredictable except at the end (and why not?). What looks like another Maggie Smith performance as an agreeable/disagreeable eccentric marooned in Italy (after all, she did it in Tea With Mussolini and A Room with a View), turns out to be a pleasing sojourn in Umbria with more than a little edge. And Maggie Smith as Mrs Delahunty does it perfectly. Who else can make a line like ‘the brash technology of the 21st century’ sound so haughtily off-putting?
Not knowing anything of the plot, I was pleased to discover it and so will merely mention that circumstances bring an unexpected group of people to the house in Umbria. They include Ronny Barker as a retired general – and his presence makes us regret his absence from the screen for so long. Timothy Spall is the factotum of the house. Chris Cooper (Adaptation, Seabiscuit, October Sky) is the American professor who finds it very difficult to cope with Mrs Delahunty. Giancarlo Giannini is a police investigator. Plays a traumatised young American girl and is a German journalist.
The film is not just a return to the past. Its themes, including terrorism, are quite contemporary. It has a satisfying blend of the old and the new.
Audiences who have been to Umbria will be making resolutions to return as soon as they can.
1.William Trevor’s novella? The British background and Italy? The British style? Expatriates? For an American audience, British audience, worldwide?
2.The Italian locations, the Umbrian countryside, its beauty, the city of Sienna, the house? The beginning of the 21st century? Musical score?
3.The title, the visual focus on the house, the character of the house, its symbolism?
4.Emily’s voice-over, Maggie Smith’s style, in the car with the chauffeur, the atmosphere, getting to the train on time, the place in the carriage, the general and his family, Werner and his girlfriend, her commentary on their love? Amy and her mother, Emily talking to Amy, her mother’s caution? Her being an author, romances, her voice-over about walking in the garden, Amy at the window, the bright light, the crash, the splintering glass, scattered over the fields and the flowers?
5.The transition to the recovery, bewilderment, her friend coming, the scene with the general, his learning to walk, going to Amy, concern about her silence and trauma? The discussion with the doctors?
6.The idea of taking everybody back to the house, their settling in, the peaceful life, the scenic beauty, the general and his sense of peace, Werner and his recovery, his burns? Amy, being with the group, her drawings, her suddenly talking? The English garden, the plan and the model, their working in the garden? Meals, relaxation, recuperation?
7.Uncle Tom, contact with him, his arrival, stiff manner, his being an expert on ants, the background of his wife, the background of his fight with his sister and not talking? The discussions, his resisting Emily? On the phone and his mocking Emily, her listening in? Her pushing drinks on him? The visit to Sienna, the tourism, sitting in the café, his further resistance to her, her visit to his room at night? The decision to take Amy back? The further decision to leave her?
8.Emily, her background story, her home and her adoption, the memories and images of her parents on the Circle of Death? The abusive parent, her running away? Going to America, Idaho, going to Marrakesh, her being abandoned? Her prostitution? Her being rescued? Her indebtedness to her friend?
9.The importance of the dreams, Tom in the dream and her explanation? Amy, Werner and his meeting his girlfriend by accident, the further dreams and her understanding the truth of what hat happened about the bomb?
10.The inspector, the questioning, his visits to the house, the discussions with Emily, her dreams? The revelation of the truth about the bomb?
11.The staff, their joy with Amy in the house?
12.The preparations for Amy to leave, Emily’s sadness, the return, the joy in the household?
13.Werner, his friends, his going off with them, finally leaving, the reconstruction of what happened with his girlfriend, her carrying the bomb, its accidentally exploding and the killings?
14.The optimism of the ending, a film of hope and joy?
