A Month by the Lake
A Month by the Lake ★★½1995 (PG)
Redgrave takes the plunge into highly familiar romantic comedy of the Proper English sort and glides effortlessly through this slow-moving but often charming adaptation of an H. E. Bates short story. Set in pre-WWII northern Italy, Miss Bentley (Redgrave) sets her spinster's eye on the somewhat wooden, but gradually warming, English Major Wilshaw (Fox). Petulant American nanny Thurman arrives to provide an arresting diversion for Wilshaw, while Gassman proves an unwitting pawn for Miss Bentley's game of “get the major.” Touching and lighthearted performances, especially by heavyweight Red-grave, are complemented by glorious cinematography. 92m/C VHS, DVD . Vanessa Red-grave, Edward Fox, Uma Thurman, Alida Valli, Alessandro Gassman, Carlo Cartier; D: John Irvin; W: Trevor Bentham; C: Pasqualino De Santis; M: Nicola Piovani.