Product Description

Two sisters find their lives changed by a young man who has been washed ashore & badly injured. Upon taking him in the two wome discover the mans true origins & his talents as a gifted violinist embarking on a journey they had never imagined for themselves. Studio: Sony Pictures Home Ent Release Date: 04/24/2007 Starring: Judi Dench Natascha Mcelhone Run time: 104 minutes Rating: Pg13 Director: Charles Dance

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8115 in DVD
• Brand: Sony
• Released on: 2005-12-06
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, French, German, Polish
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 104 minutes

Amazon.com
A couple of old Dames make the slender story of Ladies in Lavender surprisingly moving. Janet and Ursula (Maggie Smith and Judi Dench), a pair of elderly sisters living on the Cornish coast, discover a young Polish man named Andrea (Daniel Bruhl, Goodbye Lenin!) washed ashore and barely alive. They nurse him back to health and discover that he's a talented violinist--a fact also recognized by a mysterious young woman (Natascha McElhone, The Truman Show), who may woo Andrea away from them. The core of the movie is not its plot but the skillful and delicate play of emotions underlying how the sisters treat Andrea; Ursula, a spinster, finds herself sliding from maternal affection to an embarrassing but irresistible schoolgirl crush. Ladies in Lavender captures something that few contemporary movies bother to consider: Older men and women are as capable of passion and desire as the young, but the young carelessly (and sometimes cruelly) disregard the old. In the hands of Dench (Shakespeare in Love, Iris) and Smith (California Suite, Gosford Park)--as well as David Warner (Time After Time) as a bitter doctor--Ladies in Lavender becomes a bit like a violin concerto itself: Discreet and subtle, but finding in the smallest movements a richness of feeling. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews

Competition for Love on the English Coast
This quiet British film starring two of Britain's most acclaimed actresses, Dames Maggie Smith and Judi Dench, is unabashedly a vehicle for these two leading ladies. Janet (Smith) and Ursula (Dench) are two unmarried sisters living on the coast. When one morning after a storm they discover an unconscious young man (Daniel Bruhl) on the rocky shore, their daily rhythms change as each woman develops a crush on the helpless man. Each vies for his complete attention. When Janet is able to finally communicate with Andrea in German (he is Polish), Ursula becomes consumed with jealousy and compensates by pampering him. Both, however, are pushed aside as it turns out that Andrea is a virtuoso violinist (music played by Joshua Bell), and the entire town in drawn to him. Even worse for the sisters, a beautiful visitor, Olga, discovers him as well, drawing him away from Janet and Ursula, into her own world.

Judi Dench is given more to work with than her co-star, and so comes across as the more complicated woman, but Maggie Smith turns in a fine, reserved performance as the more hard-edged sister. Daniel Bruhl is a little awkward in his role; while Natascha McElrone turn in a more memorable performance, though hardly as commanding as Dench and Smith. The cinematography lends affection to the English countryside and coast, and it highlights the isolation of the small town.

This film is slow-moving and carefully articulated, without much happening beyond what is revealed in the actresses' faces. Without Dench and Smith, it would have no appeal, and so should be seen more for the two stars than for the film itself. 3+ stars.

(3.5 STARS) Excellent Acting of Two Ladies, Dench and Smith
English actor Charles Dance ('Last Action Hero') made his debut as director in 'Ladies in Lavender' based on a short story by William J. Lock. The film features reliable veterans like Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Miriam Margolyes, David Warner, plus Natascha McElhone ('Ronin'), and Daniel Bruhl ('Goodbye Lenin").

The story, set in 1936 in a seaside village in Cornwall, is a simple one. A young handsome man named Andrea (Bruhl) is found on the shore, uncounscious, with his ankle broken. Andrea, who cannot speak English, is nursed by two old ladies of the village, Ursula (Dench) and Janet (Smith), and soon he recovers his health, picking up some English words while in bed. Also, Andrea starts to live with the spinsters (and the housemaid Margolyes who teaches him how to peel the 'potatoes'), and brightens the life of the ladies, especially that of Ursula, to whom Janet refers as very 'naive.'

Later, Andrea turns out a gifted violinist, and Olga, young traveller from the city, also finds his talent (Olga speaks fluent German). And a bit incredibly, I think, but Olga happens to be a sister of one famous violist, who happens to be in London just for one day. And Olga says this is a great chance that he cannot lose.

The weak and implausible story is helped by the presence of the two great actors Dench and Smith. It is their acting, or subtle expressions of voice and face that really tell the story, and Charles Dance should be very thankful for their excellent jobs (I thought, actually, his direction is just so-so, with too many unnecessary slow motions and even an embarrasing 'dream sequence' of Ursula that had almost killed the film).

The film's strength lies in the veterans' acting, particularly that of Dench, whose character Ursula is the most memorable one. It is clear that she is in love, and equally clear that she knows she is not allowed to express her feelings even before Janet, who somehow senses the truths behind the embarrassed expressions of Ursula. At the same time, however, this could be the weakest (or most incredible) part of the film -- of course, old ladies fall in love, and why not? -- but Judi Dench and Daniel Bruhl? And in the original, Ursula is in her 40s while Judi Dench was born in 1934.

Another problem is (so I found), Daniel Bruhl, or his character Andrea, who lacks the mystery, or the dark side, which he should have, if he really comes from where he claims (remember, it's 1936, only three years before WW2). Andrea's character needs more complexity. After all, who is he? Why wants to go to America? He doesn't talk about them -- that's fine -- but no one asks (except David Warner's doctor), which is too strange.

'Ladies in Lavender' is a good film about the two ladies in title, and the acting from the principal players is excellent. Watch for Judi Dench and Maggie Smith, and you will be greatly moved by them, or their characters.

Bedazzled by Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, and Daniel Bruhl!
Ladies In Lavender is a delightful romantic comedy featuring two of England's finest actresses as the leading ladies. This film is going to have a strong following of female audiences over forty, and it's a must see for all Maggie Smith and Judi Dench fans! Also, the captivating landscape of the seashore and the violin score is very pleasing.

Janet(Smith) and Ursula(Dench) are sisters living in a village by the sea, and their peaceful and mundane lives are changed when they rescued a handsome stranger(Andrea/Daniel Bruhl) washed up onto the shore after a severe storm. Ursula instantly had a crush on the foreigner who spoke no English and soon learnd that he was Polish. Janet could speak some German, and communicated to him, while Ursula had to used sign language and eventually taught him some English.

When Andrea gradually recovered from his leg injury, he had the opportunity to play the violin when the sisters invited an amateur violinist friend to visit. Everyone were dazzled to see that Andrea was a great violinist, and his music instantly captured the attention of a travelling Russian artist named Olga(Natascha McElhone) whose brother happens to be a renowned violinist. She became interested in persuading him to leave the village and join his brother so he could launch his music career. The sisters were unprepared for his unannounced departure....

Natascha McElhone is wonderful and looked beautiful as an artist, and she delivered her lines in Polish and English, but she had limited screentime. Mariam Margolyes(Being Julia) was a comic relief as the sisters' housemaid. Daniel Bruhl looks so much like Jake Gyllenhaal. He had some great moments acting with Smith and Dench, and he was gorgeous and mesmerizing in the concert scene. Maggie Smith is great as usual, and she held her own opposite Dench, but the script had Dench doing more of the emotional scenes that was a heartfelt experience. The moment when Maggie Smith held Judi Dench together when she had her breakdown was an emotionally impacting scene.