Main Cast: Miranda Richardson, Joan Plowright, Josie Lawrence, Alfred Molina, Polly Walker, Michael Kitchen
Release Year: 1992
Country: US/UK
Run Time: 93 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
Previously filmed in 1935 with Ann Harding, Enchanted April, a romantic novel by Elizabeth, was remade in 1992. The first film skips along superficially at 66 minutes: the second, directed by the always intriguing Mike Newell, runs 101 minutes, allowing for richer characterizations and a bottomless reserve of brilliant dialogue. Two cloistered, married English women (Josie Lawrence, Miranda Richardson) impulsively rent an Italian villa and embark upon a vacation without their spouses. They are joined by two other ladies: the high-flown aging widow Joan Plowright, and elegant upper-crust beauty Polly Walker) whom they've never met. Under the spell of an exotic new location, the foursome are in for quite a few life-altering experiences, many of them amusing, and not a few very surprising. Impeccably accurate in its recreation of European manners and mores in the 1920s, Enchanted April is sheer bliss from fade-in to fade-out. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Essentially a Merchant-Ivory production made without the participation of either Ismail Merchant or James Ivory, Enchanted April is a charming period piece that delivers on the enchantment implied in its title. Mike Newell has directed in a delicate, almost fragile style that imbues the film with an ethereal, magical atmosphere that is hard to resist. This is the kind of balancing act that is much harder to pull off than it looks -- one false utterance, inappropriate gesture, or anachronistic attitude can destroy the spell, and too much adherence to maintaining the tone can induce ennui in the viewer. Newell and his excellent cast make it work, aided greatly by Peter Barnes' sensitive screenplay and some quietly stunning visuals of the castle and its environs. Josie Lawrence is a giddy delight, and her performance is nicely balanced by Miranda Richardson's subtle and serene portrayal. Joan Plowright plays the crusty old lady to the hilt, Alfred Molina and Jim Broadbent hit just the right notes as husbands not sufficiently aware of their wives' virtues, and Michael Kitchen conveys a boyish excitement underneath his mature reserve. Perhaps too much a grown-up fairy tale for some, Enchanted April's unreality has an undeniable appeal. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Jim Broadbent - Frederick Arbuthnot; Stephen Beckett - Jonathan; Vittorio Duse - Domenico; Anna Longhi - Costanza; Davide Manuli - Beppo; Neville Phillips - Vicar; Matthew Radford - Patrick; Adriana Facchetti - Francesca
Credit
Matthew Hamilton - Associate Producer, Sheena Napier - Costume Designer, Mike Newell - Director, Dick Allen - Editor, Simon Relph - Executive Producer, Mark Shivas - Executive Producer, Richard Rodney Bennett - Composer (Music Score), Malcolm Thornton - Production Designer, Rex Maidment - Cinematographer, Simon Relph - Producer, Ann Scott - Producer, Mark Shivas - Producer, Peter Barnes - Screenwriter, Elizabeth Von Arnim - Screenwriter, Elizabeth Von Arnim - Book Author
The Enchanted April is a 1922novel by Elizabeth von Arnim. An Academy Award-nominated film based on the novel, directed by Mike Newell, was released in 1992. A Tony Award-nominated stage play by Matthew Barber, also adapted from the novel, was presented on Broadway in 2003.
Elizabeth von Arnim's novel tells the story of four dissimilar women in 1920s England who leave their damp and rainy environs to go on a holiday to a secluded coastal castle in Italy. Mrs Arbuthnot and Mrs Wilkins, who belong to the same ladies' club but have never spoken, become acquainted after reading an advertisement for villas for rent in a newspaper. They find some common ground in that both are struggling to make the best of unhappy marriages. Having decided to seek other ladies to help share expenses, they reluctantly take on the waspish, elderly Mrs Fisher and the stunning, but aloof, Lady Caroline Dester. The four women come together at the castle and find rejuvenation in the tranquil beauty of their surroundings, rediscovering hope and love.
Film
The film was shot on location at Castello Brown in Portofino Italy. This same castle was where the author of the book stayed in the 1920s.
