Sorry, this movie sucks

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

I was surfing through my prime video choices and came upon this gem. The whole time I was waiting for something bad to happen, but instead this small film is just a delight. Dench and Smith are at their usual brilliance. Nice to see a film with a happy ending. Now this isn't for everyone, but if you enjoy good acting and a decent plot this is for you. Cherry on top is a cameo played by Toby Jones.

Chances are Ladies in Lavender will remind you of that sweetly played Michael Radford film from the mid-90s entitled The Postman; later known only as "Il Postino", in its original language, at the expense of a later Kevin Costner film of the same name. Like Il Postino, Ladies in Lavender is a period piece, set around about the same time as Radford's film, which zeroes in on a sleepy coastal town and a specific inhabitant whose life has been somewhat bereft of incident, let alone incident with the opposite sex, and often, we feel, sheltered. Amidst the town's more animated activity, that being limited to fishing and only fishing, a younger member of the other gender crash lands into the laps of our lead; their beauty prominent, their allusive qualities more than evident and their presence later shattering. As either films progress, we will come to watch this lead go on to both interact as well as advance the nature of their feelings for the previously exterior individual; thus leading to all sorts of complications to do with lust and anger which lead to overwhelming residing sentiments.The film follows that of Judi Dench's Ursula, an elderly woman living in a Cornish town with her sister Janet – played by the seemingly ever-consummate Maggie Smith. This pairing live in the sort of place in which local residents are able to recall what people looked like nigh-on forty years ago, the sense of those born in the area not necessarily going anywhere during their lives that is particularly far away from the area, prominent. We open on them with this quaint, blissful sentiment to proceedings; the duo messing about on a beach during a clear summer evening establishing real degrees of closeness and a sense of very little strife, or indeed, issue, currently between them - even at this late stage in either of their lives. Whilst on the beach, Janet appears willing to have a brief paddle in the lapping sea; Ursula's natural reaction to dismiss such an idea, through being afraid of it or whatever, sees her hold back as the sibling makes the proverbial step forward to get involved, thus an instance is an early highlighting of either women's nature and the dynamic of their relationship therein.Further sentiments of these sisters being as close as they are reside when we realise they share a bedroom housing two single beds, in spite of the fact the house is clearly big enough for the pair of them. Janet's side-table houses a photograph of a younger man dressed as a soldier, and is most probably her husband; then we observe that Ursula's side-table is vacant of such things, inferring a lack of prior masculine presence in her life. As a pairing, we observe Janet dismissing a "populist" radio show Ursula enjoys listening to; Janet spends the free time they have reading, whereas Ursula can only knit and when it comes to starting up their motor-vehicle to go out, Janet must again drive proceedings as she cranks it up and gets it going before taking them both out. Culturally, and in terms of exposure to life and whatnot, Janet appears indelibly more advanced than her sister; brief establishments that go a long way to tee up what will be Ursula's tale of having to come to terms with certain feelings and drive a strand of her own that will go against this established patriarchy.Where we come to sense few ever get out, and that sense of the whole place being entirely tied in to one another in that community driven way some places are, we sense the film's catalyst arriving in the form of a young man washed up on the nearby shore through Daniel Brühl's Andrea could be quite the occasion. Upon first seeing him, and the consequent interactions thereafter, Janet's busy physical demeanour as someone trying to aid and take care of him is in stark contrast to Ursula's stilted, far more stunned complexion; she reacts as if not having seen one of his kind in her entire life, even doing so a fair time after the initial shock of finding someone with the potentially to be seriously injured or even dead has evaporate. The night before Andrea's inglorious arrival, they turn off their radio with the announcer on the brink of speaking of a severe storm due to hit the area – what they end up with is a more burning, more physical incarnation of this sort, particularly when Natascha McElhone manoeuvres into proceedings. McElhone plays a Russian love rival named Olga whom turns up and reveals herself to paint rather than merely knit; someone whom we enjoy observing at home, barefoot, and blowing smoke into the air from her cigarette as she sports a loose gown and sits comfortably on a chair in an extravagant looking house.The film gently constructs Ursula's gradual coming to feel for this young man, eventually revealed to be a Polish violinist. The film tiptoes between a fine line separating it from warm hearted drama and out and out tragedy; we really enjoy Dench's acting - her frail and fragile performance, as she plays this vulnerable person exposed to elements she struggles to comprehend, a wondrous performance off the back of playing that of domineering, grizzled women evident in the likes of Die Another Day and The Chronicles of Riddick: Dench flicks from one to the other remarkably. Director Charles Dance, his first and so far his only venture into directing, does a more than ample job in depicting these events and these characters; his film amongst some of the better film-making debuts from the first half of last decade, and worthy of utterance in the same breath as Romanek's One Hour Photo or Richard Kelly's Donnie Darko, in what is a fascinating drama.

"If music be the language of love, play on"- Very true statement you know.I wasn't expecting to like Ladies in Lavender, but being a lover of both Maggie Smith and Judi Dench, I knew I had to see it. And you know what? I loved it, admittedly it is very slow and perhaps the ending a little abrupt, but essentially it is beautifully-acted, directed and rendered, that I actually found very moving.First of all, I loved how it was filmed. The setting is old fashioned, but it is exquisite to look at as well. Some parts are like looking at a watercolour painting, seeing how picturesque it all was. The scenery was sumptuous and the costumes gorgeous. And the music from Nigel Hess was utterly amazing, some of the melodies played on the violin is close to heart rending. Although the violin can play sinister and devilish pieces like Danse Macabre, it also works bringing to life poignant works like Meditation from Thais and Tchaikovsky's Melody. The music composed I think was one of those elements that made the film so touching, it was extremely beautiful.The direction from Charles Dance, who acted so well in Bleak House, is subtle, and this allows each actor to bring their character and the sophisticated screenplay to life. The story is nimbly told, about the upheaval and yearning when a handsome young man(with a catch-he can't speak English) is found washed up on the beach, and goes into very subtle emotional regions.And the cast is exceptional. Maggie Smith doesn't get as much screen time as Dench, but she gives a very strong performances as always as the voice of reason. Judi Dench is also exceptional in a difficult role as Ursula, and Daniel Bruhl is indeed handsome as the handsome stranger Andrea. The supporting cast were outstanding as well, Natascha McElhone, David Warner and Miriam Margoyles give suitably deft performances and it works for this sort of film.Overall, very beautiful and touching, particularly worth seeing for the acting and the music. 9/10 Bethany Cox

"Ladies in Lavender" (2004) is a film starring two of the best British actresses, Dame Judy Dench and Dame Maggie Smith as two lonely sisters, a widow and an old maid who live quietly and uneventfully in their cottage on the seaside in Cornwall, England. The film takes place in 1936 before the WWII begins. One morning, the sisters discover a young man, almost a boy injured and washed ashore near their home and their lives were changed forever. The sisters take the boy in and care for him. As time passes, they learn that Andrea was on the ship heading to America where he hoped to become a professional musician. Andrea is extremely talented violinist and one day, his playing attracts the attention of a young Russian woman -painter, Olga who lives in the village. Olga's brother is a world renowned violinist and she is ready to offer the boy the chance of his life but the sisters, especially Ursula (Dench) seems very reluctant to let Andrea and Olga communicate. Ursula who never been married feels deep tenderness, warmth, and longing for Andrea that she has difficulty to hide. Her sister who is very close and compassionate to her sees quite well what goes on but she also understands that some dreams would always stay just the beautiful dreams...The main reason to see the movie is acting and chemistry between two beloved actresses, both in their 70s and both on the top of their profession. As for the story of two lonely elderly sisters in their coastal home, it was told better in Lindsay Anderson's "Whales in August" (1987) that starred Bette Davis and Lillian Gish, and Anderson's film does not have a young foreign boy to make it compelling and moving. The verbal and silent communication between two sisters as played by Gish and Davis makes the earlier movie a quiet and poignant gem. As for the unrequited tender vulnerable love that comes when one least expects it and that makes the life of an older person heaven and hell at the same time, watch "Death in Venice", the tragic masterpiece by Luchino Visconti.