Tea with Mussolini
1999 · Movie · PG · 117 min · ★ 6.5 · 59% critics
In 1930s Italy, a motherless boy is taken in by a circle of British expatriate women who fill his days with art, manners, and afternoon tea. As fascism tightens its grip and war arrives, their sheltered routines are disrupted, forcing the group to rely on one another to endure sudden upheaval.
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Details
- Years
- 1999
- Release date
- 1999-03-25
- Language
- English
- Rated
- PG
- Runtime
- 117 min
- Critic score
- 59/100
- TMDB rating
- 6.5/10 (158 votes)
About
You’ll likely enjoy this if you want a cozy, character-driven period story mixing humor and wartime strain, with a big ensemble and a nostalgic feel; Not for you if you need tight plotting or constant suspense like The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.
Pros: strong ensemble performances; warm humor and heart; beautiful Italian settings | Cons: episodic, time-jumpy story; uneven tension; sentimental, sometimes rambling
Themes
- hotel
- ambassador
- loss of loved one
- italy
- widow
- world war ii
- female friendship
- benito mussolini
- florence, italy
- expatriate
- 1940s
- 1930s
Cast & crew
Maggie Smith
as Lady Hester Random
Judi Dench
as Arabella
Joan Plowright
as Mary Wallace
Cher
as Elsa Strauss-Almerson
Lily Tomlin
as Georgina "Georgie" Rockwell
- BW
Baird Wallace
as Luca
- CL
Charlie Lucas
as Luca (Child)
Michael Williams
as British Consul
- PC
Paul Chequer
as Wilfred Random, aka Miss Lucy
Massimo Ghini
as Paolo
Directed by Franco Zeffirelli