Ladies in Lavender

We think the Judi Dench character sees the young man in a romantic way. She asked her sister early on about how badly she felt the loss of sister,s young man, who seemed to have been killed in the war (after finding the young man) and helping him recover and seemed to draw a parallel with her sisters grief. Most enjoyable, and we sat discussing the story at the end.

This is such a lovely poignant film about ageing and love. Yes I think she does fall in love with him because he reminds of her of lost youth and love. Miriam Margolyes is wonderful in this too.

The acting - and the music - in this film are superb. The scene where the two sisters are making their beds and the discussion turns to the emptiness of the Dench character's life following losing a young man in the war is one of the best acted and most subtle scenes in cinema for my money. But with Dench and Smith together I would expect no less. And, yes - Miriam Margolyes is perfectly brilliant too. A wonderful film.

I agree completely, Mishap. I watched it again a few days ago and was mesmerised by the exquisite acting. What a wonderful combination of characters and an unfolding story that was as intriguing as it was subtle.

I liked that one! I obtained the DVD from somewhere or other, no idea where now. Two brilliant actors at work.

A lovely film which despite its stelar cast never quite got the acclaim it perhaps should have. Like Tea with Mussolini in that respect.

DH and I are both nursing heavy colds at the moment so spent Saturday afternoon slumped in front of the telly. I should have taken possession of the remote because I nodded off during Ladies in Lavender, which I was enjoying immensely and woke up in the The Battle of Midway.

Thank-you - I suppose I was quite surprised to see romantic feelings of an older woman for a much younger man depicted in film, without any kind of ridicule or judgementalness (if that's a word).

Apparently it's based on a short story written in 1908/1916 by a schoolmaster / novelist (William John Locke 1863-1930).

I recently read the short story and discovered that it does not have the happy ending given in the film. It ends with the two sisters mystified over why and where the young man has gone, and resigning themselves to their quiet life.

That's interesting FarNorth - I think Charles Dance wrote the screenplay - also apparently the film is set in 1936 (but the story was written either pre or post WW1). Do you think they seemed a bit Victorian for 1936?

I enjoyed it very much because I like Judi Dench but it left me with questions the main one being how did he come to be washed up in the first place? To me it was a vignette of a way of life. I don't think it was too Victorian. The 2 ladies have been brought up in the late Victorian era by Victorian parents. They live in a village and not a city so it is a slower way of life where perhaps nothing much happens

I think he was trying to get to America but no we don't find out the details (shipwreck? boat in a storm? foul play?) - it's just a plot device to deliver a non-English-speaking injured young man to them.

I didn't find the slightly unrealistic scenario a problem at all.

I just loved the a superbly subtle acting of the two Dames it was a very moving film.
I must watch it again as well.

I loved it also. I think Judi Dench's character feels inside that she is still a young woman, as in the dream sequence of them rolling around in the field and then she is substituted by the younger woman. But I do think she feels young and falls in love with the young Polish guy. He obviously sees her as an older lady and sees her more as a mother figure. It was probably about relationships on different levels as the sister's relationship seemed to change once they were tending to his needs, trying to compete for his attention, something they hadn't done before but it changed the balance in their relationship. I adore the actresses in this, Miriam Margolyes is superb as an actress and in real life, very funny. Like.

The short story 'Ladies in Lavender' is part of a book called Faraway Stories by William J Locke, first published in 1916.
The story explains, briefly, that the young man was washed overboard during a storm.

Wikipedia has just told me that the story was originally published in 1908.

I saw it years ago, I thought it was lovely. Perfect viewing for one of those days when you have a bad cold and no energy.