Enchanted April DVD Edition
Four women rent a villa in Italy and end up finding themselves and fun in the company of each other when they leave the cares of their society behind.
Film making 20/25
Cinematography 18/25
Audio 18/25
Bonus Features 5/25
Total 61/100
Enchanted April is about four dissimilar women who take a holiday at a castle on the Italian coast, two women who are so disenchanted at their lives they don’t want to bother their husband’s with the fact. I looked on the internet while starting this review and found plenty of simple explanations of the film just like this one.
Two of the women, Lottie Wilkins played by Josie Lawrence and Rose Arbuthnot played by Miranda Richardson are distant acquaintances from the same social club. Both women have dissatisfying marriages but they can do little about their situation so want to get away.
One husband is a writer but his wife does not approve of the books he writes while the other makes his wife count every shilling and pence she spends and writes an accounting in a book. When the two women first rent the castle from the owner they are breathless at the sight and expectations of the adventure.
They leave and start their adventure but first have to pay for it, they need to convince a few others to join them to help pay for the expenses. They advertise for some other women to join them and only have two answer the ad so they meet them and decide with the lack of choices to accept them.
Mrs. Fisher is an older woman, played by Joan Plowright, who is a widower and rather doughty but also worldly who goes on and on about who she has met in her past. When she tries to give the two references at their first meeting Lottie Wilkins refuses the references saying they do not need them and that she hopes that Mrs. Fisher will not need references from the rest.
The fourth of their little adventure is a high society woman Caroline Dester played by Polly Walker who wants to get away from it all and not be the center of attention. Lady Caroline is probably the only celebrity among the group and all four are form the upper crust of English society but not too high up the ladder.
Before Lottie has a chance to tell her husband Mellersh about the rental he tells her that he wants to spend Easter with her in Italy, but she drops the bombshell of already being invited to Italy by a friend. The husband is furious that she would want to spend so much time away from him due to his being the center of her universe in his eyes but she tells him she is going.
Mellersh Wilkins tells her that she will not be going and that is final, the next scene is a boat as the two women from the social club who have now become fast friends are on the trip across the channel. They spend a frantic and rainy night in a small horse carriage driven by a barely English speaking Italian going to the castle.
The next morning dawn brightens their day and their adventure begins, a month in the idyllic countryside of Italy. They find that Caroline Dester has already arrived the day before having chosen the nicest room for herself and they start up conversation dancing around the fact that they really don’t like her that much.
They also find that Mrs. Fisher is there as well and the castle does come complete with servants as well as furnishings. They spend the first part of the holiday clashing against each other’s personalities but eventually become friends in their various ways.
Each woman has their own reasons for wanting time away from their lives, some want more than anything to just have some time to themselves. When things get a bit boring for them Lottie invites her husband to join them and then tells the others who at first argue against it and then relent.
Mellersh turns a corner in his attitude toward his wife during his stay and even opens up a bit and pays for the trip from his funds instead of making Lottie take it out of her savings nest egg. The owner pops in during their vacation and stays a time but only as an interlude for some character interaction.
The whole film and the play the film is based on is a light hearted look at people of slightly differing social status and how they can interact and get along. The whole comedy and laughs in the film derive from the characters interaction and not about anything that is truly comedic about their behavior or pratfalls.
The film takes a slow but laughing look at the interactions of people and the times really do not take much of a part in the comedy or laughs. Enchanted April is a good film but not all that great in my opinion, maybe the play is better but the film does take a bit to get from one laugh to the next.
Enchanted April is a good film but that is about as far as I would go with it, well acted and well filmed with a great story. The film also has an audio track added on with commentary by Mike Newell the director and Ann Scott the producer to give insight into the making of the film and differences between it and the play.
The commentary is a nice addition but is all the extra content available on the DVD edition of Enchanted April which is a shame. The film is well worth seeing at least once and shows how just spending time with others can change attitudes toward them.