Unexplained Laughter is an atmospheric piece. Very little plot or action. Diana Rigg plays Lydia, a London-based freelance writer whose boyfriend, Finn, has left her for another woman. Lydia and her friend Betty (Elaine Paige) go off to Wales to get away from it all. There, they become tangentially involved with a troubled girl and the various love affairs of the locals, while Lydia constantly hears laughter that no one around her hears.
The film offers intelligent and black-humored dialogue delivered by very fine actors. Diana Rigg would be clever and interesting reading a telephone directory. Her chemistry with co-star Elaine Paige is amazing. Their characters are so dissimilar that in less skilled hands you would question how or why they ever became friends. There is clearly a great mutual respect that anchors their relationship.
The film has largely been ignored or forgotten over the last thirty years, but now that it is available on DVD as part of the Diana Rigg At The BBC Collection it will likely gain some new fans. I confess my first viewing of an early VHS release left me rather cold. But subsequent viewings prove there is more here than I first thought -You have to pay attention if you want the rewards.
The film offers intelligent and black-humored dialogue delivered by very fine actors. Diana Rigg would be clever and interesting reading a telephone directory. Her chemistry with co-star Elaine Paige is amazing. Their characters are so dissimilar that in less skilled hands you would question how or why they ever became friends. There is clearly a great mutual respect that anchors their relationship.
The film has largely been ignored or forgotten over the last thirty years, but now that it is available on DVD as part of the Diana Rigg At The BBC Collection it will likely gain some new fans. I confess my first viewing of an early VHS release left me rather cold. But subsequent viewings prove there is more here than I first thought -You have to pay attention if you want the rewards.
