Ladies in Lavender. (2004)

Director:

Charles Dance

Writers:

William J. Locke (short story)
Charles Dance (written by)

Release Date:

12 November 2004 (UK)

Genre:

Drama | Music | Romance

Tagline:

The story of two sisters who saved a stranger, and the stranger who stole their hearts.

Plot:

Two sisters befriend a mysterious foreigner who washes up on the beach of their 1930's Cornish seaside village.

Plot Keywords:

Radio | Pub | Haircut | Music | Nursing Back To Health

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Judi Dench	...	Ursula
Maggie Smith	...	Janet
Daniel Brühl	...	Andrea
Freddie Jones	...	Jan Pandered
Gregor Henderson-Begg	...	Luke Pendered
Miriam Margolyes	...	Dorcas
David Warner	...	Dr. Francis Mead
Clive Russell	...	Adam Penruddocke
Richard Pears	...	Barry
Natascha McElhone	...	Olga Daniloff
Iain Marshall	...	Fisherman (as Ian Marshall)
Toby Jones	...	Hedley
Trevor Ray	...	Very Old Man 1
John Boswall	...	Very Old Man 2
Joanna Dickens	...	Mrs. Pendered

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for brief strong language.

Runtime:

104 min | Argentina:103 min | Australia:99 min | Australia:103 min (theatrical version)

Country:

UK

Language:

English | German | Polish | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Sweden:Btl | Argentina:13 | Brazil:Livre | France:U | South Korea:All | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Mexico:B | Germany:o.Al. | Finland:K-7 | Australia:M | Ireland:PG | Spain:T | UK:12A | USA:PG-13 | New Zealand:M

Filming Locations:

Cadgwith, Cornwall, England, UK

Company:

UK Film Council

Trivia:

Charles Dance mentioned in his Production Diary that whilst they were casting, he got a phone call from 'Freddie Jones (I)' (who played Jan Pendered), who, having received the script, said "P**s-poor part, but I'll do it because I'm in love with Judi Dench."

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Mains electricity, gas lighting and indoor flush toilets were unlikely to be present in remote village houses in 1936 Cornwall.

Quotes:

[Dorcas comes into Andrea's room, carrying a sack of potatoes and two buckets]
Dorcas: I got a job for you.
[they sit, peeling the potatoes]
Dorcas: [indicating the two buckets] You put the peel in here, and the spuds in here. You have done this before, haven't you?
[Andrea looks bored. He purposely throws a peel in the spud bucket]
Dorcas: No!
[she fishes it out]
Dorcas: You put the peel in *here* and the *spuds* in here!
Andrea Marowski: "Spuds?"
Dorcas: Yes. Proper name's "potato," but we calls them "spuds."
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Best Man (2005)

Soundtrack:

Fuga from Sonata No.1 in G Minor BWV 1001

A pleasant surprise in store

Having a jaded palate, I was expecting to endure rather than enjoy Ladies in Lavender, but I was very quickly won over by the superb acting and the surprisingly high standard of direction. I also thought the re-creation of the atmosphere of the late 1930s was very sensitively done. Two exceptions: Olga was dressed in 1990s or even current-day style (yes, I know she is an 'artist' but even so...); the combination of flowers blooming in the garden was botanically highly unlikely even in Cornwall! Part, but only part,of the answer to the question of age posed by jackie-107 lies in the fact that the film is precisely set in 1939, as the Second World War breaks out with the German invasion of Poland, as reported on the radio, and not in 1936. But this only gives the sisters three extra years. The date also helps to explain Andrea's unorthodox arrival. Presumably he was the 1939 equivalent of an asylum-seeker! If so, this gives this 'escapist' film a rather interesting contemporary political relevance. Well worth seeing, even for cynics like me!