Artist's daughter Penelope Keeling can look back on a full and varied life: a bohemian childhood in London and the wilds of Cornwall, an unhappy wartime marriage, and the one man she ever truly loved. She has brought up three very different children: Olivia, her 'special child', who like her mother is both tough and vulnerable; Noel, her ruthless and selfish son, and Nancy, the first born, embittered by greed and jealousy. It is a mild heart-attack that allows the sixty-four year old to take the time to reflect on her past life. Having discharged herself from hospital, the energetic and independent Penelope returns home to her ramshackle cottage in the English countryside. From here she travels to the Mediterranean paradise of Ibiza to stay with Olivia. Here she meets her daughter's lover, Cosmo, and his daughter, the young and beautiful Antonia, all the while reminiscing about her time during the war. The story unfolds like a jigsaw, switching between the 1940's and the present day. ... Written by kevvy
This film has a split personality. The scenes, which depict 1982, are so poor that I'm amazed that they didn't end up on the cutting room floor. Vanessa Redgrave gave her usual performance of Vanessa Redgrave. After watching this film I'm even more convinced than ever that if her family hadn't had been in the theater she would have never got a part in anything, and that includes her local am/dram productions. She swans around as if she's smoked a lot of cannabis in the 60's and she still hasn't completely come back to reality. She takes being languid to its extremities. The acting of Redgrave, and the majority of the cast, could only be described as "Ham" of the first order. The part of the film depicting the war years was totally different. It held my attention, it was well acted and believable, it turned a very poor production into something rather less painful.