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What could be more civilized than afternoon tea accompanied by this beloved 1991 film about four English women who find themselves transformed by a magical, month-long stay on the Italian Riviera?
Based on the 1922 novel by Elizabeth von Arnim, Enchanted April tells the magical tale of Lottie (Josie Lawrence) and Rose (Miranda Richardson), two cloistered, unhappily married Londoners who impulsively rent an Italian villa for a spring holiday without their spouses. To save money on the excursion, they invite two other women to join them: Mrs. Fisher (Joan Plowright, Oscar-nominated for this role), an elderly, strong-willed widow, and Lady Caroline Dester (Polly Walker), an elegant, upper-crust flapper who has declared herself "sick of men." Once the women fall under the exotic spell of the sun-drenched seaside castle, they find themselves transformed by their stay, experiencing changes in themselves that they never thought possible.
Impeccably accurate in its recreation of European manners and mores of the era, Enchanted April was shot on location at Castello Brown in Portofino, where Elizabeth von Arnim herself spent a month, inspiring her to write her novel. "Enchanted April is a film to bask in, like a spring sun," says Time Magazine. "It's for those who appreciate wisteria and sunshine, and a recollection of a time when women and movies could be purveyors of enchantment."
Directed by Mike Newell. Starring Miranda Richardson, Joan Plowright, Alfred Molina, Polly Walker, Jim Broadbent.
Runtime: 1 hour 38 minutes
