My House in Umbria (1997)
The premise of My House in Umbria is very sad, and as the story unfolds, it turns out to be very strange. My main criticism of the HBO movie was it didn’t know what it wanted to be. Was it a story of grieving and coping after a tragedy? A child-focused drama featuring an older woman who becomes a mother figure? A fantasy with an unreliable narrator who drinks too much and makes a fool of herself? Or just a charming country retreat with beautiful Italian scenery? If you want to, you can rent it and decide for yourself.
Maggie Smith is a romance novelist who owns a lovely country house in Umbria. While on a train one afternoon, there’s a bomb explosion and many people are killed. She invites the survivors back to her house to recuperate for as long as they need. There’s Benno Furmann, with severe burns from the accident and a broken heart from his girlfriend’s death; Ronnie Barker, an older man with no family left; and Emmy Clarke, whose parents were killed and she takes her grief out by refusing to speak and drawing violent pictures. Timothy Spall is Maggie’s right-hand-man on the estate, and Chris Cooper is Emmy’s uncle, who isn’t too excited at the idea of adopting a problem child. He also has a fascination with carpenter ants, which is a little insulting. The year before was his Oscar-winning Adaptation, but does that mean he has to be interested in nature in every subsequent movie?
Maggie Smith is very believable in her character, and it’s no easy task. She has to be warm but sad, mysterious but without boundaries, hopeful and depressed, eccentric, and completely unreliable because of her constant drinking. Although she gives a good performance, the movie is still odd and uneven. It isn’t really one I’d choose to watch again, but I would totally want to be a houseguest of hers in Umbria.
DLM Warning: If you suffer from vertigo or dizzy spells, like my mom does, this movie might not be your friend. In the church, about 15 minutes before the end, the camera spins completely upside down, and that will make you sick. In other words, “Don’t Look, Mom!”
More Maggie Smith movies here!
Maggie Smith is a romance novelist who owns a lovely country house in Umbria. While on a train one afternoon, there’s a bomb explosion and many people are killed. She invites the survivors back to her house to recuperate for as long as they need. There’s Benno Furmann, with severe burns from the accident and a broken heart from his girlfriend’s death; Ronnie Barker, an older man with no family left; and Emmy Clarke, whose parents were killed and she takes her grief out by refusing to speak and drawing violent pictures. Timothy Spall is Maggie’s right-hand-man on the estate, and Chris Cooper is Emmy’s uncle, who isn’t too excited at the idea of adopting a problem child. He also has a fascination with carpenter ants, which is a little insulting. The year before was his Oscar-winning Adaptation, but does that mean he has to be interested in nature in every subsequent movie?
Maggie Smith is very believable in her character, and it’s no easy task. She has to be warm but sad, mysterious but without boundaries, hopeful and depressed, eccentric, and completely unreliable because of her constant drinking. Although she gives a good performance, the movie is still odd and uneven. It isn’t really one I’d choose to watch again, but I would totally want to be a houseguest of hers in Umbria.
DLM Warning: If you suffer from vertigo or dizzy spells, like my mom does, this movie might not be your friend. In the church, about 15 minutes before the end, the camera spins completely upside down, and that will make you sick. In other words, “Don’t Look, Mom!”
More Maggie Smith movies here!