Tea With Mussolini
by Franco Zeffirelli
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Product details
Actor: Cher, Joan Plowright, Judi Dench, Lily Tomlin, Maggie SmithDirector: Franco Zeffirelli
Edition: VHS Tape
Audio: English (Original Language), Analog; Italian (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC
Running Time: 117 minutes
Release Date: 2000-03-07
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Publisher: MGM (Video & DVD)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
VHS Movie Reviews of Tea With Mussolini
Movie Review: -----Well done and interesting film-----
Summary: 5 Stars
Tea with Mussolini is loosely based on a biography of film maker Franco Zeffrelli. It's the story of several English women, referred to as the Scorpioni who live in Florence, Italy. They are all in love with Italy and happily take advantage of the great art and beauty of Florence. It's home to them!
The ladies have a small close community and a few of them become involved with Luca, who is the illegitimate son of a local man. After his mother dies, he's placed in an orphanage. The ladies are Mary (Joan Plowright), Arabella (Judi Dench) and Hester ( Maggie Smith), and all help to care for the boy in some way. Because Hester is the widow of an English statesman, she tries to dominate the other ladies, but they can usually ignore her snobbish ways. The English ladies are also assisted by two American friends. Elsa (Cher), plays the part of a wealthy art lover from America and quietly fiances Luca's education. Georgie (Lily Tomlin), a visiting archaeologist is also involved in helping Luca.
When World War II breaks out the women are more than overwhelmed with the events. In their naivet?, they are hopeful that Mussolini himself will grant them some type of protection.
This very enjoyable film has everything. A talented and competent cast, some humor, and an interesting story which adds some historical significance.
Movie Review: Well Worth the Watching
Summary: 4 Stars
I'm a sucker for this type of movie. The acting was superb; the scenery very interesting; the colors and video crisp and appealing; and the story good enough. This is more a character movie than anything, and it was a pleasure to watch.Movie Review: The most beautiful bad movie you'll see
Summary: 3 Stars
Zeffirelli's artistic eye is evident here; there are tableaux strewn about the movie that are wonderful gems, visual little treats of costume, design, and Italy. Unfortunately, you'll have to tolerate some very spotty acting and weird pacing and awkward plot development to see them. Fortunately, you'll also be rewarded with some very lovely acting by a cavalcade of British lionesses. Look up "withering" in Wikipedia, and you'll see Maggie Smith's picture. And Joan Plowright's puppy eyes are ageless...she is so darling in this film, she acts as salve to Ms. Smith's saltiness.Movie Review: A beautiful place going through ugly times
Summary: 5 Stars
"Tea With Mussolini" on the surface is a women's film. The lead characters are a group of elderly English women and two Americans (Cher and Lily Tomlin). These woman have chosen to live in Florence, Italy during the 1930--1946 time frame which begins with fascism and ends with the Scottish coming to take back the city.
What makes this film is foremost the cast, and the city itself which is a gem, and finally the careful brush of history upon the women's everyday lives. "Tea" is one of the best "Coming of Second Age" films I have seen in a long time.
Movie Review: Tea with Mussolini
Summary: 5 Stars
I am a big fan of Judy Dench and Maggie Smith, and Joan Plowright. This was a great movie. Great job of casting.
Summary of Tea With Mussolini
Florence, Italy, on the brink of WWII: it was a time of social unrest and, of course...afternoon tea. Join Oscar(r) winner* Cher and an incredible cast of leading ladies as they host this "radiant, beautiful film" (Gene Shalit, "Today Show") that is "worth savoring" (Mademoiselle).Prewar Florence is the place to be for any proper British woman who relishes culture and the arts. These ladies have everything they could ever want or needincluding a promise from dictator Mussolini himself that not even the imminent world war will impose upon their lifestyle. But when itappears that his word is not kept, and these expatriateswho chose to stay in Italy instead of seeking refuge in their own countryare in trouble, it takes a young outcast boy and a brazen American woman (Cher) to keep them in the high life and out of harm's way.In filming this semi-autobiographical account of life in Italy during the dawn of World War II, director Franco Zeffirelli imbues Tea with Mussolini with the mixed blessings of fond reminiscence. It's a warmly inviting film, as impeccable as any Merchant-Ivory production, but like a hazy memory it's uncertain in its narrative intentions. And yet with an exceptional cast to compensate, the film's as engaging as it is inconsequential.
Zeffirelli's alter ego is Luca (Charlie Lucas in youth; Baird Wallace as a teenager), who is raised in Florence by Mary (Joan Plowright), the middle-aged secretary of his absentee father. Luca lives among a loose band of British and American women, nicknamed "Il Scorpioni" for their stinging wit in the shadows of Mussolini's thuggish dictatorship. Along with Mary there's Hester (Maggie Smith), a crusty ambassador's widow; Arabella (Judi Dench), a lively bohemian; lesbian archaeologist Georgie (Lily Tomlin); and Elsa (Cher), a flamboyant American who quietly finances Luca's education.
Il Scorpioni witness the rise of fascism and the dangers of resistance, weathering dictatorial custody and (in Elsa's case) falling prey to heartbreaking betrayal. But Tea with Mussolini carries little dramatic weight; you have to forgive its unfocused structure to appreciate its merits. Zeffirelli gently conveys the passage from pleasantry to wartime, and he's drawn uniformly fine performances from this seasoned cast. If the film is vaguely unsatisfying, it's only because it had the makings of greatness and settles instead for an ethereal quality of anecdotal enchantment. --Jeff Shannon
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