Tea with Mussolini (1999)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Franco Zeffirelli

Writers:

John Mortimer (writer)
Franco Zeffirelli (autobiography)

Release Date:

14 May 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Comedy | War

Tagline:

A story of civilized disobedience

Plot:

Semi-autobiographical tale from the early life of director Franco Zeffirelli looks at the illegitimate son (Charlie Lucas as a child...

Plot Keywords:

American | Italian | Italy | 1930s | Eccentric

Awards:

Won BAFTA Film Award. Another 3 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Cher	...	Elsa Morganthal Strauss-Armistan
Judi Dench	...	Arabella
Joan Plowright	...	Mary Wallace
Maggie Smith	...	Lady Hester Random
Lily Tomlin	...	Georgie Rockwell
Baird Wallace	...	Luca
Charlie Lucas	...	Luca (Child)
Massimo Ghini	...	Paolo
Paolo Seganti	...	Vittorio Fanfanni
Claudio Spadaro	...	Mussolini
Mino Bellei	...	Cesare
Paul Chequer	...	Wilfred Random, aka Miss Lucy
Tessa Pritchard	...	Connie Raynor
Michael Williams	...	British Consul
Paula Jacobs	...	Molly

Also Known As:

Un te con Mussolini (Italy)

MPAA:

Rated PG for thematic elements, language, brief nudity and some mild violence.

Runtime:

117 min

Country:

Italy | UK

Language:

English | Italian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:PG | Iceland:L | Finland:K-8 | France:U | Germany:6 (bw) | New Zealand:M | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Sweden:7 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | USA:PG | Portugal:M/6

Filming Locations:

Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Cattleya

Trivia:

Arabella's dog Nikki is actually the director's dog.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The tanks the Germans ride in on are in-fact U.S. Army M4 Sherman's, not German Built Panzer's.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Title Card: Florence 1935.
Title Card: The love affair between the artistically-inclined English community and Florence was soon to be overshadowed by the clouds of war.
Title Card: But at the moment the sun is still shining on the squares and statues, and the dictator Mussolini is the gentleman who makes the trains run on time.
Connie Raynor: Excuse me, are you the Consul?
British Consul: Yes.
Connie Raynor: Connie Raynor of the Morning Post. I'm fascinated to know what His Majesty's Consul in Florence makes of it all?
British Consul: I can't believe your readers would be interested in our little ceremony.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Features A Bridge Too Far (1977)

Soundtrack:

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes

sporadically interesting but often tedious tale

Franco Zeffirelli's film "Tea With Mussolini" may have autobiographical roots, but it often plays with less believability than any number of fictional films set in the World War II era. The filmmaker has chosen for his subject a rather unique social milieu - a group of staid elderly British women living in relative luxury in pre-war Florence who suffer mild persecution at the hands of the Fascists when all English citizens are officially declared enemies of the Italian people. The key phrase here is "mild persecution", for one of the weaknesses of the film is that it establishes too genteel a tone for the subject matter. Such a tone may be befitting, a group of snooty British dames, but the suggestion of good old stiff-upper-lipped British stalwartness triumphing over Fascist brutality seems a bit contrary to the history of the times. These women seem rarely to be in any real personal danger at the hands of the rather mildmannered fascists who guard them and even the hairbreadth escapes some of them must undergo are achieved with surprising ease and very little strain or difficulty.

Zeffirelli's multi-character canvas provides a rich opportunity for a number of fine actresses to shine. Maggie Smith invests the stereotypical role of elite British snob with her usual subtlety and humanity. As the wife of a late British ambassador to Italy, she spearheads this group of rootless English ladies, maintaining all the stuffy rituals of high class British manners in the face of not only Fascist hooligans bent on routing them from their Italian soil but a couple of gauche Americans who invade the ladies' realm. These include Cher as a flighty art patron and Lily Tomlin as a lesbian archaeologist, two performers whose aggressive acting styles and overstated Americanisms provide far too incongruous an image in the context of this film. Zeffirelli draws the Anglo/American distinction in such a heavyhanded fashion that the film often seems to come apart at the seams. In addition, the narrative spins off into so many different directions at times that it dilutes its own power and effectiveness. The boy, modeled after Zeffirelli himself, who is raised by a kind member of the group, fails to register as an engaging, fully developed character in his own right. In the beginning, his plight as an unwanted bastard and Joan Plowright's compassionate adoption of him register deeply with the viewer on a strong emotional level. However, as the child grows up, he becomes essentially a blank as a character and his puppy love crush on Cher functions as more of a distraction than anything else. Plowright, however, provides the real human focus of the story, and it is the utter selflessness and strongwilled righteousness of her character that makes the deepest mark on the viewer.

"Tea With Mussolini" deserves credit for portraying a world not often seen in the movies and the film is not without its moments of poignancy, facscination and even occasional humor. Somehow, though, the film seems to endorse many of the stuffy values and naive ideals that the very concept of taking tea with Mussolini seems to embody - a view of the world and of history that sugarcoats their most decidedly unpleasant aspects and allows us to pretend that real world brutality can be overcome by the sheer force of good manners.