The ad offers for rent "a small medieval Italian castle ... wisteria and
sunshine." Two wan British wives on the verge of breakdown seize on the chance
to flee rainy London and indifferent hubbies, vacation expenses to be shared by
beautiful ... more Lady Caroline Dester (Polly Walker) and Mrs. Fisher, an elderly,
stiff-necked recluse (Joan Plowright). In the warmth of the Italian sun,
amid the lush flora and fauna that surrounds the castle, the women, as if under
a Dionysian spell, are magically transformed. Sexless Lottie (Josie Lawrence) lets down her long, long hair and
turns sybil, predicting the (hopeful) futures of her fellow guests. Religious
Rose (Miranda Richardson), often described as resembling
a Renaissance madonna, sinks into pagan sensuality, dozing nymph-like on a
sun-warmed rock, a small lizard asleep in her golden hair. Similarly, Lady
Caroline and Mrs. Fisher go native, breaking out of deadening social roles. The
film's genuine climate of enchantment slips into somewhat precious
artifice, when heretofore insufferable husbands -- frogs become instant
princes -- arrive in paradise. Still, it's hard not to warm to this earthy fable
about Eves redeemed by the slow, hypnotic power of nature.
