User Reviews

It's certainly not clear how fictionalized a version of Zeffirelli's autobiography "Tea With Mussolini" is, what with the usual disclaimers at the end. Even presuming this is just a riff off an incident in his life, that he had some contact with memorable English ladies, it's clearly his tribute to where his love of English literature comes from, particularly Shakespeare. He's done several Shakespeare interpretations-- movies, opera and play directing. The film has a lovely scene of him being first introduced to acting out "Romeo & Juliet" with puppets, as well as constant quotes from Shakespeare throughout about war and his situation.

I was surprised how good the movie was - I was in tears several times, especially with visuals that bring up the same comparisons as "The Train" did, with art vs. war, humanity's heights of creativity vs. its lows of prejudice and violence.

These Oscar-winning ladies are absolutely terrific, yes including Cher. One elderly gentleman behind me complained that Maggie Smith basically always plays the same character but I thought her character does change towards the end. The others were certainly not their usual on-screen personas, Judi Dench as a free-spirited artist, Joan Plowright as a quite warm-hearted grandmotherly type, and Lily Tomlin a hoot as a butch archaeologist.

But why choose bland Italian actors for them to play off of? To make the Scorpioni, as they are called, stand out more? The Italians seemed stereotyped to me, Latin lover, ignorant peasants not appreciating their ancient artistic heritage.

What the movie also brought to mind is how few Italian movies have dealt with their fascist past as much as the French have been exploring their consciences of collaboration in film. Sure "Garden of Finzi Continis," "Two Women" and "Life Is Beautiful" show arrests, etc. but I don't get the sense of soul searching as to how did this happen here and could it again? Just because they didn't have Shakespeare and appreciate the treasures of the Uffizi as this film implies? (originally written 5/15/1999)

Tuscany, 1935, a group of ladies walk along the streets of the city deservedly considered one of the world's art pearls, Florence. We don't know the ladies at first but, in time, we find them intelligent women who perfectly understand English but hardly understand orders. These are Scorpioni, elderly English women who will play a decisive role in the story as well as in the life of a young boy, Luca, strikingly similar to the director himself in his youthful years, Franco Zeffirelli...

Zeffirelli's autobiographical movie TEA WITH MUSSOLINI is a charming sentimental piece of work the action of which takes place in the Italy of the 1930s and 1940s: the hardest period not only in the lives of those many who were living then but for the entire 20th century history, when, as many readers will probably agree with me, humanity seemed to be conquered by infernal ideologies and bestial hatred. Yet, according to what Zeffirelli shows us in the movie, even in those darkest days, there was also room for beauty protection, care, art admiration and mutual help. As a Zeffirelli's fan, I consider TEA WITH MUSSOLINI one of the director's best films. But not because it only shows how bad war was. That is something most of us already know well. I love the film for other reasons. I like it because...

...there are moments when you will cry, when you will think and when you will genuinely laugh. A proper balance of emotions supplied by the director makes the movie a very decent entertainment filled with affection, sorrow, even nostalgia but also fun, charm and comfort. Who can possibly skip the scene of football match, for instance? I also laughed openly at the moment the ladies teach the soldiers saying "Good night". Isn't that a useful way to teach good manners and a foreign language at the same time? The moving moment in the orphanage will leave your eyes teary and the words of Ms Wallace about our contact with dead people may put you to nostalgia. But not for long. This fact of the film's "heart" goes in pairs with brilliant musical score Zeffirelli is famous for in his movies galore. What depth is there in this music and what supply of positive emotions!

...there are, except for variety of moments, beautiful Tuscan landscapes which make the movie a true postcard from Florence, San Gimignano and a true promotion of the Florentine art. This is also in accordance with the "soul" that Zeffirelli is so deeply attached to. The colorful hills around San Gimignano and the unique flowers under the Tuscany's sun leave hardly anyone indifferent. Consider, for instance, Luca's introduction of San Gimignano while he follows the bus with the ladies.

...there are foremost genuinely flawless performances that have to be linked to the deep development of characters. That is the aspect I'd like to pay more attention to in my comment. The ladies who occur to be at the focus are unforgettable. They supply the partly Italian movie with the truly English spirit. Maggie Smith does a wonderful job as Lady Hester: elegant, well mannered but also naive in her confidence in Mussolini and reluctant of Americans, the lady who drinks the spectacular but tragic tea with the duce. Judi Dench is memorable as Arabella who has drunk the wine of Florence, warmed her hands with the fire of Boticelli and Michelangelo and wants to share this inner experience with other people. Joan Plowright is, as usual, genuine and unforgettable. She fits to particular roles and although she has carried some other brilliant roles in latest Zeffirelli movies, Ms Mary Wallace seems to be the character for her. Joan portrays a warm hearted lady who is not only a good cook introducing Luca to bacon with eggs but also a great intellectual so much in love with Shakespeare. Cher representing the American side is also very appealing as Elsa - a luxurious woman with a flair for paintings, a Picasso connoisseur whose cup of tea is not only modern art but also good heart. She once helped Luca and the time will come for her to be helped in the spirit of Shakespeare "Love thyself less"... Through these different characters, Zeffirelli appears to present the wonder of diversity in human beings. The two seemingly contradictory characters, Elsa and Lady Hester, seem to be of totally opposite natures. Yet, even they turn out to have something in common... Finally a mention must be made of Baird Wallace who perfectly portrays Luca as a youngster and Charlie Lucas as Luca a little boy. Great young talents!

There is, finally, a great message of the film: that war cannot ruin the world, that the power of spirit is endless, that real art is born in the deep of one's heart. The final scene when Arabella says at the remained fresco of Santa Fina Funeral "Let Her sleep" seems to symbolize an eternal human quest for the sublime and the mysterious presence. If the "presence" is there, we shouldn't have anything to worry about. The horror of war is ceased and the historic sounds of San Gimignano bells ringing out joyfully together with the director's message proclaim the reconciliation and peace. The twin towers stand as silent witnesses...

Franco Zeffirelli, we should indeed appreciate art since it is the art that may bring out the genius of mankind.

I had wanted to see this film for some time and when the opportunity finally materialised I was enthralled. It is probably the best performance I have seen by Maggie Smith, who often seems to be playing the same character actually. But this is her best since Miss Jean Brodie, and Joan Plowright, Judi Dench, Lily Tomlin and Cher are all equally impressive.

The settings are skilfully designed to draw the viewer in, and when you are setting your movie in Florence and its environs you can't go wrong anyway. The ongoing clash between two worlds i.e. Lady Hester Random (Maggie Smith) versus Elsa (Cher) reaches a satisfying resolution which it would be unfair to reveal.

There are splendid comic vignettes mixed into the overall drama. Judi Dench and her dog being thrown out of the cathedral, sharply contrasts with the chilling moment when the Jewish arts professor is taken away by the Gestapo. Understated but none the less effective, probably more so, because of it.

If you haven't seen this film, see it as soon as you can.

"Tea With Mussolini" is a good movie with just a little bit missing. There isn't a major flaw present, nor is there any outright bad filmmaking. The film itself has a lot of colorful characters, gentle subplots, twisted dialogue and emotional depth. What it is lacking is just about everything else. The story is said to be a nugget out of the life of writer director Franco

Zeffirelli, who in the mid 1930s and the early 1940s in Florence, is replaced with a young boy named Luca who is being raised in as an orphan. He doesn't know, but his mother is dead, and his father is married to another woman and doesn't give a bag of bones about his rightful him.

There we have it, the first act of the movie. Just a few scenes. Just a few minutes. We meet the characters and discover the problem: Luca has no one. The message so simple and sweet, thus it is almost a shame that the second act begins immediately with the solution: The boy's father's secretary, Mary Wallace, decides to adopt him. She is part of an eccentric community of British refugees called the Scorpioni, who sip tea and take part in Italy's wonders. The team includes Arabella (Judi Dench), Georgie (Lily Tomlin), Mary (Joan Plowright) and is led by the snotty Hester (Maggie Smith), whose late husband was England's ambassador to Italy, working with the dictator Mussolini. The boy becomes indulged into the group making many life long friends.

A subplot in the film deals with Hester's hostility against Elsa (Cher), a rich American art collected providing help for the Scorpioni and Luca's future, sharing the same interests as the ladies.

As the war grows more and more powerful, and when Italy enters the side of Germany, the English are classified as enemies who must be strung together into a small shelter to be held for the duration of the war.

The plot gets more and more complicated, to the point of feeling a sense of a false second act. But after analyzing the movie a little more in depth, I observe it's structure is nothing more than the cunningly common three act formula. There are several stories in one here, making the movie's structure deceiving.

The performances are pretty good. Cher especially does well with another perfectly casted character worthy of a nomination for best supporting actress. Judi Dench, Joan Plowright, Maggie Smith and Lily Tomlin form the perfect team the old ladies' club, all delivering top notch performances. A further nice touch to the film's credit goes to the amazingly realistic aging process of Luca, from young boy to teenager, the resemblance of the actors (Charlie Lucas and Baird Wallace)make this an emotional journey easy to buy into.

I suppose that within the boundaries the filmmakers do a good job of giving us variety, but the boundaries are too strict here. I felt like that seeing the glamorous Italian scenery and a bunch of elders enjoying life wasn't exactly enough to hold interest for the running length, which is almost two hours. True, the characters provided an interesting prospective of life in Italy in the 1930s, but even they couldn't hold the movie together for two hours.

I liked "Tea With Mussolini," but I am sure many audiences will not. The movie is soapy and historical (one of the better period film's to come down the road in some time, may I add), the thematic elements may though some off, and there isn't a whole lot of relevance in the film either. Not a great production by any means, but "Tea With Mussolini" does end up coming off as a marginally passable journey into the heart of Italy in the 1930s.

Mildly entertaining, but never deeply engaging; the sort of thing one expects from a "Masterpiece Theater" costume drama. It's the charming tale of a collection of ready-made English eccentrics dealing with the minor hardships of internment in war-time Italy. Things are not serious enough to give the film dramatic punch, and the whole thing is played too demurely to work as black comedy. The title really tells the whole story--yes, Mussolini is there, and all the horrors of fascism, but really, it's not so bad with a nice cuppa tea.

This film is directed and co-authored by Franco Zeffirelli, and I couldn't resist speculating on how much of it was actually true, since it is said to be based on Zeffirelli's autobiography. However, true in part, true completely, in the end it doesn't really matter. What matters is the amazing ensemble acting by Maggie Smith, Cher, Joan Plowwright, Judi Dench and Lily Tomlin (listing them in the order of significance to the story) and the stunning beauty of Florence where the film is set. The director and photographer plainly love the city, matching the love for it of the characters. Maggie Smith as the widow of a former British ambassador, the character that actually has tea with Mussolini, is the dominant figure in the film. However, Cher, playing a wealthy American -- vulgar in the eyes of he British ladies -- who turns out to be a complex, philanthropic Jew who must be smuggled out of the country in the end; Joan Plowwright as a kind lady who takes in the bastard son of an Italian businessman and teaches him to be an English gentleman; Judi Dench as an eccentric artist whose passion is to preserve a renaissance fresco from the Nazis during the war, and Lily Tomlin as a lesbian American archaeologist all deliver sterling performances. Cher's performance is the most amazing -- she holds her own in formidable company -- but one expects, of course, to be dazzled by Maggie Smith, Joan Plowwright, Judi Dench and even by Lily Tomlin. It's a sentimental, even melodramatic, tale, but see it for the ensemble acting. I can't think of another film that equals Tea with Mussolini in that respect.

This film could have been titled 'four crazy grannies' for the marvelous portrayal of little old ladies, each more eccentric than the next. Like the comedy team of Matthau and Lemon, Dench, Smith and Plowright have a chemistry that is explosive.

Maggie Smith played a role that she has spent a lifetime perfecting. She captivates us as a snobbish dowager, tantalizes us with her improbable tea party and brings us to tears when she demonstrates her capacity to grow.

Although she may not have wowed us with her Shakespeare, Joan Plowright's compassion for her sudden charge made me wish (that at age 32) she would adopt me. Her love of the classics, remind us that art, literature and friends can help us transcend life's constant miseries.

Cher demonstrated that she could act in any time period. While Dame Judi Dench (not allowing herself to be typecast as a Queen) portrays a particularly pitiful creature as an aging artist with more passion than talent.

This film sends a clear message to Hollywood: experience and talent win out over T&A.

Applause at the end of this movie is to be expected.

Brava!

Nothing exceptional or over the top; careful and skilled direction with some remarkable moments, too. A good night out.

Young boy from a broken home is 'adopted' by a group of elderly British women in pre-WWII Florence, Italy. Director Franco Zeffirelli's rather self-conscious valentine to his own childhood is slushed with poetic sentimentality, most of which feels distinctly artificial. The young lad at the heart of the piece isn't at all memorable, and the ladies unfortunately fare no better (but where else can you find Cher, Judi Dench, Joan Plowright, Lily Tomlin and Maggie Smith together on-screen?). Some of the more subtle moments (such as the child waiting for someone to pick him up after school) touch on a velvety kind of youthful longing that is rather sweet, but the drippy dialogue and obvious "scene stealing" opportunities for the femme stars drain much of the sincerity from the mix. ** from ****

This is a melodrama and you should not expect anything else. But what a melodrama! In the hands of a great director, using an eccentric story involving some eccentric people, it conveys straight to the heart how the great darkness descended upon Europe in the 1930's. It tells you that the greatest evil is the work of humans, and that the potential for evil lurks in the human soul. But, and here is the movie greatest strength, it shows you that humans possess the capacity to be human and to act human, when they heed Shakespeare's advice: "Love thyself last". All the negative comments that can be made about this or that deficiency caused me to downgrade this movie's rating from a "10" to a mere "9". Go see it. If you have kids - make sure to take them along for a great and satisfying lesson about life as it should be lived.

Now I'm thinking of how to rank this film, underrated? or just deserves its lukewarm greeting when first came into theaters in 1999. Director Franco Zeffirelli (Brother Sun, Sister Moon 1972) was at his twilight time when shot this film (he was 76 then), which undeniably means there is scare chance that any director could launch another career apex (late bloomers are not included).

Firstly for any film aficionados, the vintage cast consists of Cher, Maggie, Judi, Joan and Lily has an irresistible allure which only indicates that it will not dash my hope of an enchanting 2-hour stretch. The film gets Cher plays herself, divine and vulnerable at the same time, although I don't buy it when she would make such a rash and unexplained mistake in the latter story, maybe Paolo Seganti is too hot to resist (who knows, he is killingly delicious here). My favorite performance here is Dame Maggie Smith, whose acute spinster character is again fun to watch, alongside her old confidante Dame Judi Dench, a more vivacious image as Arabella, the art guardian. Joan Plowright's part is a heartrending one and Lily Tomlin's lesbian fashion could never be better for her.

After all, this is a biographic story of Zeffirelli himself and our protagonist is Luca, whose adolescent ceremony co-occurs with WWII, which profoundly affects those expatriate ladies. This is a substantially feel-good film, and I must say I did enjoy the film, Zeffirelli failed to keep the balance to not reveal his conspicuous contrivances of bolstering the emotional momentum, so it leaves me some artificial impulse to discern some biased point-of-view about British chauvinism and American flattery, anyway, nothing to do with Italians, eventually.

This inept film advertises well, but is incompetent on just about every level. One-dimensional characters, writing, cinematography and direction leave the great cast with nothing to do put pose and mug shamelessly throughout the torpid proceedings. A total waste that will please only the simplest of minds. For a similar, much better film, check out "Where Angels Fear To Tread."

This film is one of the most touching and lovely films that I have seen in many years. Its gaggle of actresses are second to none and turn out excellant performance, Joan Plowright in particular brings an irresistable sweetness to the role. People who have commented on the film so far seem to have neglected to mention the soundtrack which is beautiful and inspiring with a wonderful piano piece. Criticism that the film is too old fashioned or that the characters are unappealing and pompous seems to miss the point, the very charm of Hester (Maggie Smith in particular)is how she overcomes her snobbery at the end and realises how much Elsa (Cher, who in any other film would doubtless be misplaced but in this case fits the role like a glove) has done for the Scorpioni. In short the film is a relic of a gentler age and is simultaniously uplifting, upsetting and relaxing. I implore everyone to hunt down the soundtrack on CD to the ends of the earth if necissary.

First of all I must say how impressed I am with the choice of locations - beautiful Florence and the hilltop town of San Gimignano with its fantastic square towers reaching to the sky. The interiors too really sparkle - a great compliment to the art director. The superb cast ( mainly women ) give wonderful individual performances as Britishers uprooted from their beloved homeland, annoyed and irritated by the upheaval of war in Mussolini's Italy. Lady Hester Random (Maggie Smith) and Arabella (Judi Dench) portray English aristocratic snobs completely out of their depth in their alien surroundings, ever critical of the rich and beautiful Elsa (played by Cher to perfection) and everything else American. One of them remarks about Americans in general "They even vulgarize ice-cream". (This I think is one of the funniest lines in the script). Mary Wallace (Joan Plowright) is a warm-hearted woman who befriends and cares for Luca the child of a broken Italian marriage. Their love and respect for each other is beautifully portrayed. Mussolini (Claudio Spadano) is unmistakeably the fascist leader who fails to keep his promise to protect the ladies and struts about in typical fashion. Despite the foregoing, the remarkable performances add up to something less than perfect. The film just misses out somewhere. Is it the script? Luca delivering messages on his bicycle in the dead of night and the screaming British women running riot and struggling with the army offices for the most part are unconvincing. But this is a comedy drama and should not be taken too seriously. Quite good as light entertainment.

A story of civilized disobedience regarding some expatriate women and on Zeffirelli's own childhood who seems to be the illegitimate son called Luca (Baird Wallace) of a wealthy Italian . The boy's mother has died, and whose neglected father (Massimo Ghini) has all but abandoned him , the latter is happy when the boy is taken in a peculiar group of eccentric women. As Luca's raised by a group of middleaged woman , known as the Scorpioni, in 1930s Florence, they are the following ones : Judi Dench as Arabella , Joan Plowright as Mary Maggie Smith as Lady Hester , Lily Tomlin as Georgie . He is specially raised by an Englishwoman(Joan Plowright , Laurence Olivier's wife) in pre-World War II Fascist Italy. Living to each other in Florence, and presided over by an ambassador's widow, a group of Englishwomen live a sheltered existence which they believe is guaranteed personal protection in a tea reception given by Il Duce (Claudio Spadaro). However, as war breaks out, Mussolini consolidates his power and Luca is sent away to school and the women are interned , and while they find themselves unwelcome foreigners , but he cannot sever ties to his surrogate mothers when is enlisted . This English colony is occasionally joined by a flamboyantly rich American-Jewish (Cher) , who visits them amongst her travels and marriages to wealthy older men.

Semi-autobiographical tale in the Fascist Italy from the early life of writer/director Franco Zeffirelli, describes his early existence with an expatriate community of women. Amusing if not always focused comedy drama with great interpretations , including the stunning cast , three Award winners: Dame Maggie Smith, Dame Judi Dench, and Cher . Being well co-written by Franco Zeffirelli and John Mortimer and regarding historic events as the rise and fall of Mussolini. Lush Production Design and Art Design by Biagio Fersini ,Fiorella Mariani , Marco Allegri , though the war scenes late in this movie are shots taken from A bridge too Far (1977) . And being very well-performed, protagonists are adequate for the roles , a veteran star studded-cast , such as : Cher, Judi Dench, Joan Plowright, Joan Plowright, Maggie Smith , Lily Tomlin . And supported by notorious secondaries such as : Massimo Ghini, Paolo Seganti , Claudio Spadaro Chris Larkin as Major Gibson is Dame Maggie Smith's son and final theatrical film of Michael Williams as British Consul who was the actor-husband of Dame Judi Dench and Jackie Basehart as Count Bernardini was son of American actor Richard Basahart and Italian Valentina Cortese .

It contains exquisite cinematography by Davit Watkin , a magnificent Italian cameraman , being shot on evocative location in Florence . Unforgettable and auntingly wonderful musical score by Stefano Arnaldi and Alessio Vlad. The motion picture was well written and directed by Franco Zeffirelli . He was a production designer and director, known for The taming of shrew (1967), Romeo and Juliet (1968), La traviata (1982) , Champion , Jane Eyre , Endless Love , Hamlet , Otello , Turandot , Sparrow , Callas Forever and the TV series Jesus of Nazareth . Received a Special 1962 Tony Award "for designs and direction of the Old Vic's 'Romeo and Juliet'." The following year, in 1963, he was nominated for Broadway's Tony Award as Best Scenic Designer for "The Lady of the Camellias." Being one of eight Italians to have been nominated for the Academy Award for 'Best Director'. Rating : 7/10. Worthwhile watching , better than average .

Tea With Mussolini is solid entertainment. It is not the great film so many had thought it would be, but with a true story, great casting and performances, and an interesting setting and time it is enjoyable. The whole cast particularly the Scorpioni, the older English women living in Florence, were fantastic. In particular Maggie Smith (Hester), the crusty, sharp tongued wife of the former ambassador, and Joan Plowright as Mary, the sweet but strong grandmotherly type who essentially adopts Luca were fantastic. Cher as Elsa, the brash, nouveau riche American, was well cast. The young men playing Luca as a child, Charlie Lucas, and a teenager, Baird Wallace, were terrific. Vittorio, Elsa's lover and villain, played by Paoli Seganti showed "presence" on film. All in all a good two entertainment. Three stars!!!

See comments by obo-3. I have to agree on many of those weaknesses, although I have a talent for suspending my disbelief in order to appreciate some finer qualities of a movie. This didn't receive a very high rating from me, however, I have stringent guidelines.

I do think it is worth seeing merely because it does a good job of showing us a different perspective. For our generation to look back into history and judge those who were naive as doing nothing to stop the atrocities... I do not make excuses for those who saw the horror with their own eyes and turned away, or worse, gave up their neighbors... But for example, in this movie, when the local military knocks the town around a bit, some of the fine British believed it to be an isolated incident and just didn't believe that Jews were really being rounded up and carted away like livestock elsewhere. They trusted the word of Mussolini and believed in the greater good of the governments and aristocracy of the time.

This is a touchy subject, but in our age of media coverage, even I doubted the stories I read in the paper of the atrocities in eastern Europe and thought it may be propaganda and overblown. I just couldn't believe it what was happening in our modern times and in Europe. This disbelief was coming from an educated person (in political science, no less) who knows a bit of history. I still could not believe that was happening, until I saw the pictures of the refugee camps and the burned out homes with my own eyes, and finally, until I shared a flat with a man whose parents and child were driven from their homes. I can fully believe that some Europeans at that time, would not see the big picture to stop Hitler and his cronies until it was all too late. It frightens me, even to see how easy it happened.

It is worth seeing this movie just to understand the perspective of how quietly and quickly the Nazi/fascists did what they did.

Enjoyed immensely. Went to see it because of the cast. With such a fine cast it had to be seen. I was not disappointed. If you enjoyed Masterpiece Theatre as it used to be you would enjoy this. Reminded me also of "A Town Like Alice" although less violent. Roses for costuming, settings, and of course the cast. I only questioned the age of the young boy. I would have thought he was highly suspicious hanging about and would have been recruited for the political youth gangs who may have supported Mussolinis blackshirts.

People who only enjoy current violent films ought not to be permitted to see such lovely films.The character played byJudi Dench and her efforts to protect works of art and her sensitivity to art while experiencing the frustration of not actually producing great works, herself, earned my sympathy.

"Tea With Mussolini" follows a bunch of women, mostly English and mostly past their prime, through the WWII years. The women are part of a colony of well-to-do art lovers who reside near Florence, Italy and wile away their days with tea and idle chit-chat as the world prepares for war. The unfortunate film has much to offer...great cast, wonderful location shooting, costuming, etc. Many will like it's sanitized dreaminess and charm. However, it fails as a story by spreading itself too thin over too much time resulting in a disjointed screenplay with an annoying and stuttering lack of continuity all the while wallowing in pitiful trivialities and diluting the effect of what are intended to be climactic or poignant moments. An easy and enjoyable watch which fails in the overall effect.

Based on Zeffirelli's own experiences in Firenze (Florence) at the beginning of and during the Second World War, this film has quite a strong connection with the also recently seen `Up At the Villa' (200) (qv), in as much that British ladies are again central features - when not characters - of the story. It is supposedly from this period that Zeffirelli's love of Shakespeare stems.

Whereas nothing much can be said against any of the fine dames - Mss. Judi Dench, Joan Plowright and Maggie Smith - leading the cast, one did not feel that there playing anything more than tongue-in-cheek bravado aplomb, which Cher's participation only served to accentuate or exaggerate. Such that one felt somewhat at a loss as to the sincerity of the whole operation, especially in the latter stages of the film's development. Most certainly the first half is better and with a more cohesive continuity, but this in the second half begins to break up, even fragment, into rather haphazard disjointed story-telling spread over lengthy periods of time clumsily strung together.

It was certainly nice seeing those fine old actresses again, or even the oft surgically operated Cher, and indeed they afforded several interesting moments; but on the whole neither their efforts nor those of Zeffirelli himself add up to very much. The film left me wondering whether Zeffirelli was unsure as to his film being an all-out comedy or as to it trying to be a more serious drama. In the end it is not really one or the other but almost a pastiche of both without much conviction.

It is sweet, corny and over romanticised. At first you think another CINEMA PARADISO or LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL as we enter the eyes of a young boy, Luca, in the sweet serenity of Florence from 1934 to 1945. Surrounding him are a bunch of some eccentric and snobbish elderly women from England. To add further spice we have two Yankee women, the loud obnoxious and very rich Elsa, (Cher hamming it up) and the lesbian Georgi, (another fine performance from Lily). They claim Florence as their home and who wouldn't with an overabundance of romance, art and pasta. But along come the Fascist Black Shirts as they disrupt the tea party for our ladies and round them up as prisoners of war. To the rescue comes Luca, now grown up with testosterone levels to burn. All this, believe it or not, is based on director Zeffirelli's memoirs. I wonder if back then he had an orchestra following him around playing the emotional manipulative music? When Zeffirelli goes for the wide shots he is safe because of the beautiful scenery and set designs. It is when he orchestrates a dialogue driven scene that he falls flat on his face, giving us disjointed cuts and too much time on the leadi ng actresses, (mostly Cher), instead of telling a story in where the emotions are aimed. Working your way through this film gets a little clumsy but emotionally you understand where its heart lays.

How is it possible to have a cast the likes of Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Lily Tomlin, Cher and Joan Plowright (who was excellent), and wind up with a movie drama that's almost laughable? I guess the buck stops at director Franco Zeffirelli. The dialog ran the gamut from mundane to cliché to idiotic. The camera close-ups were suggesting strong emotional content when there wasn't any. The music seemed completely out of place at times, with very moving dramatic classical music at times when, again, there was very little in the way of drama. And the cast? These stellar stars were the worst I've ever seen them (Joan Plowright excepted), with every utterance feeling pushed and overacted, so I can only guess they were directed that way. I felt as if I were watching a comedy, or at lest something filmed for its humor, when, in fact, the subject matter is quite serious. If you want to see it because of this story, then, by all means, have a go. But if your looking for an engrossing film, don't be fooled by the all-star cast -- give this one a miss!