Review of Tea with Mussolini (1999) by Jake C — 14 Nov 2018

They say it takes a village to raise a child-though in lieu of a whole Tuscan town, it seems all a boy really needs is a group of elderly English ladies and their wealthy American friend. Likewise, rather than a fully fleshed out narrative or a meaningful sense of urgency or danger, it seems all a movie really needs is an ensemble of legendary actresses enjoying themselves.

Whatever the very real terror of the historical events displayed, the film more or less keeps the bleak shadows just offstage, merely hinting at the brutality of the fascists and Nazis, wallowing instead in an amiable Italian fantasy of nostalgia.

In reality, while these women are based on a group that the young Zeffirelli really did know while growing up, the director never saw them again after they were taken to an internment camp-the obscured, repressed type of camp, belied by the campiness that actually appears on screen.