Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2747 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-02-28
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 100 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Ladies in Lavender is exactly the sort of film that prompts people to question, "Why don’t they make films like this anymore?" It’s a delicately-paced story of two aging sisters--Ursula (Dame Judi Dench) and Janet (Maggie Smith--who live together on a Cornwall beach in 1936. They discover a foreign stranger washed ashore (Daniel Bruhl), and while nursing him back to health make an astonishing discovery: the young man, a Pole, is a phenomenally gifted violinist. And Ursula finds her feelings for the man go far deeper than merely maternal.

Writer and director Charles Dance has crafted an admirable debut. Ladies in Lavender a tenderly done and bittersweet story of innocence and regret. Though the dialogue sometimes seems too earnest, and he has an over-reliance on slow motion cinematography, he still allows his two talented leads enough time and space to shine. It’s only unfortunate that more effort did not go into the DVD release of the film: the extras only consist of soundbites from the cast and crew, which add little insight. --Ted Kord

Synopsis
Two sisters find a young man on their Cornish beach in 1936. The man is nursed back to full health by the sisters and their doctor. The man's presence changes the lives of the two sisters forever.

Customer Reviews

Equisitely Superior Film - A Cultural Masterpiece
Ladies In Lavender looked excellent from the offset - directed by Charles Dance and starring two of the world's best actresses - I always knew it would be of high calibre, but was astounded as to how deeply compelling and touching it really was.

Judi Dench and Maggie Smith are utterly fantastic in their respective roles as Ursula and Janet (two close, yet different, sisters living on the Cornish coast at the threshold of world war 2).

I have NEVER cared for characters in a film more than I have these two women, and the tale they become involved in is overwhelming.

This is a film of gentle beauty with deeply emotional undercurrents. I am a 24 year old man, and by the time the credits were rolling I was - literally - sobbing.

This film is a (beautiful) masterpiece. It is a cultural crime to miss it!

Superb, gentle tale
I couldn't disagree more with the reviewer who considered this worth only one star (and yes, I did see Breath of Life). This film is a gentle, undemanding but nevertheless very moving 'fairy story'. The basic premise, that of the rescue of a Polish violinist by two lonely elderly sisters, is beautifully played out by the two marvellous leads. Add to that Miriam Margolyes being unwittingly compared to a potato, and you have a real winner. This is lovely, arty farty drama, and I highly recommend it!

A different kind of love story
It is 1936 in the village of Cornwall, and elderly sisters Ursula (Judi Dench) and Janet (Maggie Smith) are living a well-ordered and dull life. A violent storm washes a young man (Daniel Bruhl) ashore; the sisters take him in and nurse him back to health. Ursula, the more emotional of the two, is drawn to him immediately and soon has romantic fantasies about him. Janet, the older, no-nonsense sister, is initially less involved, but slowly she, too, comes to see the young man as "hers." His talent for the violin is noticed by their lovely neighbor (Natascha McElhone), but the sisters are jealous of her interest and want to keep him in their life.

This little movie is quite fragile and touching. There's not a lot of action here, but the two stars make it a most satisfying experience. The focus is entirely on their emotional reaction to the presence of the young man, and both Dench and Smith are masters in the arts of facial expression and speech. Miriam Margolys plays a crusty housekeeper for a bit of comic relief, and the always reliable David Warner is a lovelorn village doctor. The various plot threads are left unresolved, much like real life, and one is left with a glimpse into two lives that is heartfelt and real. Dench and Smith are unforgettable; I heartily recommend "Ladies in Lavender" to their fans.