Susan Granger’s review of “Ladies in Lavender” (Roadside Attractions)
There is nothing like a couple of smart, savvy grande dames – Dame Maggie Smith and Dame Judi Dench, to be specific. It’s 1936 in a quiet coastal town outside of Cornwall, where elderly sisters Janet (Smith) and Ursula Widdington (Dench) share a peaceful, isolated existence with their crusty housekeeper Dorcas (Miriam Margolyes). One morning, after a violent storm, they awaken to discover a mysterious young man (Daniel Bruhl) washed up on the rocky beach, the sole survivor of a shipwreck. He’s alive but injured and he speaks no English, only Polish and German. The sisters take him into their cottage and, as they nurse him back to health, long buried resentments and rivalries between them are rekindled. They discover their castaway is Andrea Marowski. He’s a Polish Jew, a violinist from Krakow, who was escaping Nazi anti-Semitism on a ship bound for New York. But their hopes of keeping him in their tiny fishing village are dashed by a visiting painter, Olga Danilof (Natascha McElhone), with impressive concert connections in London and the local doctor (David Warner) who reports the stranger to the authorities as an illegal alien. Veteran British actor Charles Dance makes an accomplished writing and directing debut, adapting a gently beguiling short story of love and longing by William J. Locke. Understated and subtly character-driven, it’s superbly photographed by Peter Biziou and features a lyrical, romantic score by Nigel Hess and the Royal Philharmonic with soulful violin solos by Joshua Bell. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Ladies in Lavender” is an elegant, engrossing, exquisite 8. If you loved “Enchanted April,” this is a must see!
