A Month By The Lake (1995)

As the clouds of war hover over 1937 Italy, a vacationing English spinster (Vanessa Redgrave) sets her cap on an ex-Army Major (Edward Fox) and they get along quite well. But when a capricious young American girl (Uma Thurman) who works as a nanny for an Italian couple enters the picture, the Major's head is turned and the spinster finds she has competition. Based on the novel by H.E. Bates and directed by John Irvin (GHOST STORY). There's not much you can say about a film like this. Its charming, slightly whimsical with quirky characters and gorgeous scenery of the Lake Como region in Italy which is lovingly shot by Pasqualino De Santis (DEATH IN VENICE). It's perfectly cast with the film's principals giving their characters just the right shade of eccentricity which helps considering they're all essentially stereotypes. Definitely lightweight but when fluff is done this well, it's not to be dismissed so lightly. The lovely underscore is by Nicola Piovani. With Alida Valli and Alessandro Gassman.