Enchanted April (1992)

The Age of Commercialism

Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Boring, over-political, tech fuzed mess

A Masterpiece!

Unforgettable movie--fabulously elegant, charming, funny, poignant, and human in a very positive way. I was reminded about Enchanted April when I watched Foyles' War, recognized Michael Kitchen, and searched his filmography to see where I had "met" him before.It's been years since I have seen it, but it's on my list to see again. The characters compliment each other and the actors were perfectly chosen as an ensemble that seamlessly produced a flowing, moving, and joyfully entertaining mini-masterpiece of a film. Rarely do movies create and sustain a mood that touches the souls of the audience the way Enchanted April does. I highly recommend this film to anyone who enjoys filmmaking at its most authentic and genuine.

If you need a vacation in January, pop this video in and relax. The atmosphere and heart of this movie are its best parts. Not to detract from the story and the performances, because they are stupendous. This film makes me happy just watching it.After the storm and on the first day in Italy, the window opens (ala "The Wizard of Oz") but, this is no fantasy. This film is perfection as it shows the development of the characters through love and kindness.Every aspect of this film satisfies. The acting, screenplay, original story, cinematography, and so on...I can't say enough about this movie. One of my all-time favorites. Hope it is yours too! Do yourself a favor and watch it.

This is the kind of movie England can do in its sleep, and that's meaning it as a compliment. Because of the success of very British comedies of manners situated at the end or beginning of the Twentieth Century, most notably adaptations of E. M. Forster novels, this very Merchant-Ivory like production was received in the light it brought when it was released in 1992. It was an exceptional year for actress Miranda Richardson, having appeared as the wife of Jeremy Irons who discovers her husband has been having an affair in the worst possible way in DAMAGE, and as the IRA terrorist who eventually dons a wig and gets a nasty comeuppance in THE CRYING GAME. Here, she plays a quiet, serene type of woman in Rose Arbuthnot, one who with Josie Lawrence who plays Lottie Wilkins, embarks on a trip that is filled with self-discovery. They are joined by an unlikely pair of ladies: one Caroline Dester, played by the enigmatic Polly Walker who resembles a very vamp Louise Brooks (and not just in the style of hair she wears), and Mrs. Fisher (Joan Plowright). This foursome will eventually merge together into becoming deep friends only because the story is so filled with spring and an overwhelming, dreamy sweetness it almost preordains it, but this is fine; it's the movie it wants to be. Alfred Molina and Jim Broadbent (then relatively new to American audiences) fill out the cast as the husbands of the two main characters, and all in all, Mike Newell makes with his movie a living thing of near-magical elements, full of quiet moments and wonder.

I first saw Enchanted April about five years ago. I loved it so much that my husband surprised me with a copy the following Christmas. It's about two women who decide to rent a castle in Italy for the month of April, leaving their humdrum lives behind them. They are very sad women at the outset of the film, and you can't help but root them on as they plan this get-away with two other women they invite along to share the expenses. This is perhaps the most feel good movie I have ever seen. It' pure and simple, with no car chases, no animosities and no deaths. It was made with care and in very good taste. You cannot help but smile all through it -- except when you're crying happy tears!