****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
Finally! A film with TRUE acting and TRUE drama without nudity, special effects, blood, gore, and crude humor finally comes to the U.S. after many, many years! I'm only 26 years old but I definitely know real acting when I see it and Dame Judi Dench and Dame Maggie Smith, Britain's most beloved actresses know how to act and give outstanding performances in Ladies In Lavender. Directed by Britain's talented actor, Charles Dance, a directorial and screenplay writing debut makes Ladies In Lavender what films are meant to be: TRUE Drama, TRUE acting, beautiful scenery and even worked very closely to the music composer Nigel Hess and has very beautiful classical music. Joshua Bell plays the violin parts in the film and it's so breathtaking that I has to buy the Original Soundtrack to this wonderful film. I saw Ladies In Lavender twice in the theatre and wish I could have seen it a third time but since this film had very little showings, which is very unfortunate, I will just have to wait until it gets released on DVD.Ladies In Lavender is a breath of fresh air from all the "crap" that Hollywood calls films these days. Ladies In Lavender is a British film, made perfectly by Charles Dance, who knows how to make a quality film! I love how throughout the entire film, you'll see scenes of the sea and birds flying which was all filmed in the U.K. Dame Judi Dench plays Ursula and Dame Maggie Smith plays Janet, two sisters, two spinsters who live in a Corninsh village, taking place in the 1930's.Ursula and Janet live in a house right by the sea and discover a young man washed up on the shore. The young man, Andrea, who is played by Daniel Bruhl, turns out to not speak english and to be Polish. Ursula and Janet take care of Andrea in a guest room for many days, teaching him things and talking to him. One day it is revealed that Andrea loves the Violin but that's not all, he can play the Violin as well and gives a wonderful performance. A beautiful young woman, Olga, who is played by Natasha McElhone, is staying in a nearby house and one day hears his playing the Violin, falls in love with Andrea's playing and offers him a chance for real success in London, England. All the while, Ursula takes a real liking and caring for Andrea and doesn't want him to leave. This is where Judi Dench's performance really shines and shows more emotion than ever before. It was so moving that it brought tears to my eyes. The end scene also made me start to cry because of the two sisters' performance.Dame Judi Dench is now my favorite actress of all time because of this film. I have cried during my favorite actor's performance, which is why he's my favorite actor but never has an actress's performance ever made me cry until I saw Judi's performance in Ladies In Lavender. This film is very moving and like the Director of this film states, "...for all those years she had waited for the prince who never came; and he had come at last out of fairyland cast up by the sea. She had had with him her brief season of tremulous happiness."I just cannot wait to get this film on DVD because it's what films are SUPPOSED to be. Without special effects, cursing, nudity, gore, just ACTING!!! I might just buy a couple copies, it's that good.And I realized something after my second time watching it that came to my mind not too long ago. Ladies In Lavender actually has similiarities to the video game, Final Fantasy X. Both have actually made me cry. Now I know that all the stuff in between the beginning and end of both are very different but if anyone has ever played Final Fantasy X and then watches Ladies In Lavender or vise versa, will see a similarity. I'll tell you why. In Final Fantasy X, the main character, Tidus, is on a ship on the sea and then is thrown to some beach, so he's basically found on some beach on the Isle of Besaid. In Ladies In Lavender, Andrea is found on the beach. In Final Fantasy X, Tidus doesn't know anyone, just like Andrea doesn't know anyone. The end of Final Fantasy X is where you'll see that Yuna, the girl Tidus falls for later in the game, has fallen in love with Tidus but Yuna loses him. Both Yuna and Ursula both have lost these men, of course the way they lose them is totally different but still, they're both very moving. Even video games can have very emotional and moving scenes, especially since Final Fantasy X has voice acting and is so realistic looking. If anyone loved watching Ladies In Lavender and haven't played or seen Final Fantasy X for the Playstation 2, I highly recommend it, and vise versa.I love both Ladies In Lavender and Final Fantasy X and will soon, own both.
