Trama

Four English women, after World War I, who are unhappy with their lives, and their time away on vacation in a beautiful Italian villa.

This slow-paced gem is about the civilizing influence of Italy on beleaguered Londoners, both male and female, and has its own civilizing influence on the viewer. It's almost like taking a little mini-trip to Italy, a gorgeously filmed enchantment.

Like the mythical brothers fed by a wolf family, two wives from pre-World War II London find themselves strangely at home in Italy, there's grace in the wild beauty and unexpected love. Before the movie ends, two classy women they befriend are astonished by them and San Salvatore, as are the husbands they left in London.—Kenneth Nilsen

Four women rent a chateau on a remote Italian island to try to come to grips with their lives and relationships. They explore the differences in their personalities, reassess their goals, and reexamine their relationships in a sisterly fashion.—Ed Sutton <esutton@mindspring.com>

Lottie Wilkins and Rose Arbuthnot, two married women living in 1920's London share the misery of empty relationships with their spouses and decide to rent an Italian castle for the spring to get away. In order to save money, they advertise for two other women to join them. Mrs. Fisher, an elderly widow who knew many famous authors in her youth is struggling with a lonely and regimented existence and jumps at the chance to join the vacation. Lady Caroline Dester is a gorgeous flapper who has been grabbed one too many times and is sick of men, she only wants to be left alone... or so she thinks...

They arrive in San Salvatore' a seaside Italian castle drenched in wisteria and sunshine and find themselves in a romantic landscape that leaves a lot of time to consider their lives in London. After reflecting for a while Lottie decides to send a letter to her husband, inviting him to join her. The next one to join them is Mr. Briggs, the owner of the castle, who is on his way to Rome. He has taken a liking to Rose, believing her to be a war widow. The third guest is the uninvited husband of Rose, Frederick, who has actually come to the castle to see Lady Carolina, whom he has taken a liking to after having met her at a party in London. Rose is unaware of all this and Frederick realizes that he really loves his wife after all.