Ladies in Lavender

We've just been watching the DVD of the recent British film Ladies in Lavender, starring the two Dames - Judy Dench and Maggie Smith. Set in 1936 Cornwall, it's the rather implausible story of two elderly spinster sisters who chance upon a handsome Polish youth washed up on the beach near their house after a storm. It all moves rather slowly but the Dames' subtle and sensitive performances are nicely contrasted with a typically gutsy contribution from the splendid Miriam Margoyles, who heads a bevy of suitably bucolic locals. David Warner adds some undefined menace as the faintly creepy doctor. The 1930s Cornish countryside is painstakingly recreated - even if it is all unrealistically idyllic. I assumed that there was some underlying moral to the thing, but I think not; it's just a faintly melancholy tale of missed opportunity and regret. That said, we enjoyed it.

A couple of reviews, taken together, sum up what we thought of the film:

This one for the defence and this one for the prosecution. Between them they're about right.