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Actors: Cher, Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, Joan Plowright, Lily Tomlin
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about Tea with Mussolini |
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Luca is a child and teen in pre-war fascist 1930s Italy. The illegitimate son of an Italian clothing manufacturer and a deceased woman, he lives with an Englishwoman, Mary Wallace (Plowright), and hangs out with a community of expat British ladies -- including the wife of an ex-diplomat (Maggie Smith), an artistic soul (Dench), and a lesbian archaeologist (Tomlin) -- in the city of Florence. They believe their sheltered existence will be guaranteed by Mussolini himself, since he airily promised as much at a tea hosted by Lady Hester (Maggie Smith). Into this circle flits Elsa Morgenthal Strauss-Armistan (Cher), a loud American they find vulgar but who respects the older women and secretly pays for their transfer out of a prison camp and into a guarded hotel after conditions quickly deteriorate. She in turn is betrayed to the fascists by her lover, the chauffeur. Franco Zeffirelli co-wrote and directed this fairly autobiographical 1999 film, although his character, Luca, is a small boy to a teen who does't do much beyond observe the others. The result is anecdotal, pleasant, but not very weighty.
--David Loftus, Resident Scholar
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A great story about how a group of high society English and American ladies managed to survive WW2 when on they were on Italian soil.
--Jenny, Resident Scholar
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Dictator Benito Mussolini has promised that these British ladies will come to no harm, as
they live out their lives of true gentility in Florence leading up to World War II. In “Tea
with Mussolini,” an autobiographical journey for director Franco Zeffirelli, these
ladies come to an abrupt conclusion that Il Dulce is not so sweet after all. But this film,
starring Cher, Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, Joan Plowright, and Lily Tomlin, is more than a
diatribe against the fascists. It is at once a love story, a tragedy, and also a delightful
comedy--it is an enchantment of a movie, filled with excellent cinematography (which fully
captures Florence and the surrounding Italian countryside) and a musical score that is
compatible with the movie's overall presentation.
--Bill Hobbs, Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of Tea with Mussolini |
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Time/era of movie:
- 1930's-1950's
War impact on civilians/veterans
Yes
Ethnic/Regional/Gender story?
Yes
Main Char. ethnic: (if not US Caucasian)
- British
Woman/class/friends story?
- women's (plural) story
Culture clash?
- visiting a different culture
Culture of surrounding area:
- Italian
Kind of conflict:
- war, WW II
Main Character
Identity:
- Female
Profession/status:
- simply wealthy
Age:
- 40's-50's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
Hair type
- (woman) medium/shoulderlgn wavey
Events of movie makes character more...
- sad
- tougher
Ethnicity/Nationality
- British
Sense of humor?
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Female
Hair color
- white/grey
Hair style
- (woman) short/butch/lez
Ethnicity/Nationality
- British
Main Adversary
Identity:
- an organization
Ethnicity/Nationality
- Italian
Setting
Europe
Yes
European country:
- Italy
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- moderately detailed references to deaths
Sex/nudity in movie?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- kissing
Non-American film?
Yes
What language?
- English
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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