My House in Umbria (2003) (TV)

Director:

Richard Loncraine

Writers (WGA):

William Trevor (novel)
Hugh Whitemore (teleplay)

Release Date:

25 May 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

When you open your door to strangers, you never know who might come in.

Plot:

An unlikely group of people find solace and friendship after being thrown together in the wake of a terrorist attack.

Plot Keywords:

Uncle | Train | Bomb | Terrorist | Dream Sequence

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 3 wins & 14 nominations

Cast

Maggie Smith	...	Mrs. Emily Delahunty
Ronnie Barker	...	The General
Chris Cooper	...	Thomas 'Tom' Riversmith
Benno Fürmann	...	Werner
Giancarlo Giannini	...	Inspector Girotti
Timothy Spall	...	Quinty
Libero De Rienzo	...	Dr. Innocenti
Emmy Clarke	...	Aimee
Cecilia Dazzi	...	Rosa Crevelli
Anna Longhi	...	Signora Barcini
Deirdre Harrison	...	Phyllis, Aimee's Mother
Silvia De Santis	...	Madeleine
Alison Cameron Adam	...	General's Daughter (as Alison Adam)
Lynn Swanson	...	Francine Riversmith
Taddeo Harbutt	...	Young General

Also Known As:

La mia casa in Umbria (Italy)

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

UK | Italy

Language:

English | German | Italian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:L | New Zealand:M | Germany:o.Al. | UK:12A | USA:TV-14 (TV rating) | Argentina:13 | Italy:T | Australia:M | Canada:A

Filming Locations:

Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Canine Films

Quotes:

Aimee: Where's Werner?
Mrs. Emily Delahunty: Who?
Aimee: Werner. I haven't see him this morning, where is he?
Mrs. Emily Delahunty: Oh dear, we can't say...
Quinty: He went to live with some friends.
Aimee: What kind of friends?
Mrs. Emily Delahunty: Oh, just friends. Some rather special friends.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 61st Annual Golden Globe Awards (2004) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Rosa's Song

Never has grappa played so central a role.

Seeing Maggie Smith's character start the day with a wee glass of grappa and end her day with another is not exactly what we have come to expect from this marvelous actor but these twists in William Trevor's novella are precisely what the viewer is presented with throughout this wonderful film. My statement is in no way meant to denigrate the scrip-it simply is a signpost indicating the varied paths that the viewer follows as the film progresses.

The visual beauty of the film is taken for granted because of its magical setting-it's just the many little detours taken by the characters during the course of the unfolding drama that kept this poor viewer from anticipating the unfolding script changes. I saw a film I didn't quite expect to see because the early publicity seemed to gloss over these script changes. However, the resulting movie was better and more interesting than any I could have predicted-in part due to the remarkable acting of the cast.

Maggie's character is the mover of the film and all events revolve around her. Her character is strangely ambivalent in that she at first sight is this straight laced woman who appears to do everything "properly" but as the film unfolds she shows many more aspects to her role. For me it was similar to watching an onion being peeled and I found each underlying layer more interesting than the previous. Chris Cooper's character was also intrigued by this unfolding but he didn't find what he saw as interesting as I did.

Try to watch this lovely, interesting film-you can spend your time in a theater in far worse ways.