The Last September

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The Last September opens with a title card portentously announcing that what we are about to see is "the end of a world." Not, it turns out, too great an overstatement. In 1920 Ireland, a wealthy group of Anglo-Irish, the English-descended "tribe" who historically had overseen the country on behalf of its colonial rulers, seat ensconced in their luxurious estate. Just down the road, throughout small towns and villages, the British army is arrogantly terrorizing storeowners, and isolated IRA factions are responding by killing the occasional soldier. But at Sir Richard Naylor's palatial residence no such troubles need interfere. There the daily routine is still built around tennis matches, picnic parties, nature walks, and evenings spent on the lawn watching the stars. Young Lois (Keeley Hawes), niece of Sir Richard (Michael Gambon) and his wife (Maggie Smith), has lived there her entire life and has recently caught the fancy of a sweetly earnest military captain. But when a childhood friend of hers--in hiding after his murder of an army sergeant--takes refuge in a nearby abandoned mill, the thrill of danger and daring, of finally something different after all those maddeningly pleasant years, leads her down a different path. While The Last September is sometimes overly pretty in the British fashion, it benefits enormously from its excellent cast and novelist John Banville's smart, efficient script, which is alert to the nuances of conversations in which the most horrible threats are made and fears confided just below the polite chatter. --Bruce Reid

Customer Reviews:

The end of something.......2006-11-15

The fine stage director Deborah Warner chose for her first (and so far only) major film to adapt Elizabeth Bowen's brilliant 1929 novel THE LAST SEPTEMBER, an account of the Anglo-Irish aristocracy frittering away their time with tennis parties and flirtations just after the First World War while the Irish Revolutionary War flared around them. Warner assembled a magnificent cast, with Michael Gambon and Maggie Smith as the assured and controlling Sir Richard and Lady Myra Naylor, the charming Keely Hawes as their lovely ward Lois, David Tennant as her awkward smitten middle-class suitor Gerald (an officer in the Britsh police army during the Irish Revolution) and Jane Birkin doing splendid work as the silly insecure Francie. And the film looks gorgeous, with its beautiful-shabby country house interiors in pinks and browns contrasting with the rich leafy greens of the countryside. But the screenwriter, the novelist John Banville, seems to have thought that Bowen's ironic portrait of emotional violence stifled inside the country manners of the landed gentry (mirroring the political violence outside, only occasionally mentioned in the novel) would not be enough to sustain audiences' interests, and he adds a new wrinkle to Bowen's original scenario of Lois's relationship with Gerald: now Lois is, unbelievably, the carnal partner of the local revolutionary outlaw Gerald hunts. The melodramatic result jars tremendously with Bowen's infinitely subtler vision. Before the revolutionary (Gary Lydon) appears, the film is terrific, like a much more finely nuanced version of THE SHOOTING PARTY; afterwards everything goes astray. With two fine actors vividly miscast: the gifted Fiona Shaw, Warner's frequent artistic collaborator, radiant and warm but much too old to play Marda Nolan; and the magnetic Richard Roxburgh using a very distracting accent in a Byronic turn as Captain Daventry.

A beautiful period piece.......2006-09-14

"The Last September" is beautiful period piece, set in Ireland after the Revolution when the "Anglo-Irish"--or Brits--were hanging on for dear life to the nostalgia of which they were such a part. As "Lois," Keeley Hawes is lovely in the lead; and she is as refreshing and tantalizing as an Irish spring.

Of course, Maggie Smith is her Academy Award-winning self, as terrific in this film as she is in every other movie that she chooses to be a part of. She is a gift, a worldwide treasure. Michael Gambon is brilliant as always too, and he shines brightly in this film.

Exquisitely photographed by Slawomir Idziak, with splendid acting that puts American acting to shame, it is a film to remember. A cinemagraphic work of art, unlike the tripe that Hollywood puts out. In the final analysis, Keeley Hawes controls this film and makes it. What a very lovely woman and seemingly special human being.

Fiona Shaw is splendid as "Marda." And last but not least, Deborah Warner is superb in her directorial debut in films; however, regrettably, it appears that she has not made another film since this one. Its domestic gross was $478,053, which may have been a factor, although it certainly deserved better than this.

"There are occasions when it is better to be ignorant.".......2005-05-30

Atmospheric and beautifully photographed, The Last September, based on the 1929 novel by Elizabeth Bowen, takes place in Cork in 1920, at the beginning of the Irish Rebellion. Lord Richard Naylor (Michael Gambon) and his wife Myra (Maggie Smith), are the Anglo-Irish owners of a large estate which Richard's family has owned for generations. Richard's niece, Lois Farquar, age nineteen, lives with them, a bored young woman without goals, impatient to fall in love. With a stream of visitors coming to the estate, a British army unit is garrisoned nearby for protection, and the soldiers welcome the opportunity to participate in the aristocrats' garden parties and tennis matches.

Closing their eyes to the eventualities, the Naylors adhere to the idea that "It would be a great pity to have a war. There's been enough unpleasantness already." Gradually the "unpleasantness" draws closer, involving Lois, some of her childhood friends from the Irish community, and a British soldier who is courting her.

Slawomir Idziak's cinematography in this 1999 film creates a lush picture of the countryside and a mood of palpable tension. His close-ups of characters whose emotions are reflected in their faces, rather than by their words, emphasize the lack of communication between Irish and landlord, while whirling dancers and tennis players emphasize their deliberate naivete and frantic activity. Filming between cracks in a wall and through a spyglass and peekholes in the floor, Idziak's scenes are both revelatory and visually intriguing.

The film, directed by Deborah Warner, lacks warmth and a central focus, however. Though Lois (Keeley Hawes) is the main character, she is lost in the peripheral action and subplots involving aristocratic houseguests, a pallid lover, and a group of rebels whose activities are not always clear. The screenplay, written by novelist John Banville, never famous for natural dialogue, features remote characters who exclude the viewer from their thoughts.

Michael Gambon, as Sir Richard conveys some awareness of what is happening, but he seems incompatible with Myra (Maggie Smith), who plays her usual aristocratic role with panache. David Tennant, as Gerald Colthurst, Lois's suitor, so much resembles a deer in the headlights that is it difficult to imagine him either as an army captain or as Lois's suitor, while Gary Lydon, as the Irish rebel to whom Lois is supposedly attracted, is portrayed as a violent criminal with few redeeming qualities.

Those familiar with Bowen's novel will enjoy seeing rural Cork through Idziak's stunning photography. Those unfamiliar with the period, however, may have difficulty figuring out what is going on and why. (3.5 stars) Mary Whipple

Use the english subtitles!.......2004-01-25

The film making me curious about the book it's based on is for me the film's only enduring value. Though important subject matter and a seemingly passionate ethic in making it, it just isn't enough. In trying so hard to do a character study, the movie fails to allow the forces causing it to be the characters' last September to really take hold. And, without that it's just a movie about a bunch of priviliged people talking about not much at all, which when taking in an accent spells movie-watching doom. Cabaret it's not. Maybe if I had activated the english subtitles...
Actually, the "special features" on the dvd are interesting because interviews with the actors and director have you wondering if they worked on the same movie you just watched. Maybe I should have watched them first because they seemed to have honest intentions.
There's also a dramatic reading from the book on the dvd that underscores how in this case, a book is the only way to tell this story. The story is that of a revolution virtually causing a race of people to disappear. The movie does nothing to make us want to remember them.

An emotional clash between the Irish, Anglo-Irish &British.......2003-03-05

This was a very moving movie showing how the Irish, and the British and how families like uncle Richard and aunt Myra (Maggie Smith) Anglo Irish buisness people who no longer support the British yet fear the Irish rebels are caught in between a confict. Fiona Shaw does an wonderful job playing the part of a vamp, Marta who is to marry a wealthy English business man but enjoys fooling around and tempting Hughie who is regreatfuly married to a much older woman while they are staying at Richard and Myra's house. In the mean time Lois ( Uncle Richard's niece) is playfuly leading on a very attractive young British officer and yet sneaking to meet the young Irish rebel and allowing herself to be seduced by him. The British Officer wishes to marry her but Aunt Myra (Maggie Smith does a really good job playing a polite snob) slams the poor officer with the fact that he is not of money and that it would be impossible to marry Lois, yet uncle Richard, who really hates the British, is encouraging the young officer to continue in his relationship with Lois. This is a movie that anyone who enjoys the English movie format, should see.

The Last Days of World War II - A Nation's Countdown To Victory

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The Last Days of World War II - A Nation's Countdown To Victory

Manufacturer: NEWVIDEO
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On September 9, 1945, the deadliest war the world has ever known formally came to an end. Four months earlier, the Third Reich had suffered its final, crushing defeat. On the horizon stood a new type of conflict the Cold War. THE LAST DAYS OF WORLD WAR II: Relive the unrelenting Allied advance through Europe that finally crushed the seemingly invincible Third Reich. Witness the final acts of the Nazis and the climax of the Pacific War and experience the unprecedented judgments of the Nuremberg trials.

Charlie Rose with Marcel Marceau; Whit Stillman; Edward Wessex; Peter Westbrook (September 27, 2000)

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Charlie Rose with Marcel Marceau; Whit Stillman; Edward Wessex; Peter Westbrook (September 27, 2000)

Manufacturer: Charlie Rose, Inc.
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Filmed in Paris, French mime Marcel Marceau discusses his unusual career and why he chose it. Then, also in Paris, screenwriter and director Whit Stillman, known for such films as Metropolitan and Barcelona, talks about living in Paris and about his new novel, The Last Days of Disco with Cocktails at Petrossian Afterwards, which takes the point of view of one of the characters in his last film. Later, back in New York, Charlie interviews television producer Prince Edward of England, about his latest project, Crown and Country, a PBS series that explores famous British sites and recants tales of the monarchy throughout history and for which he serves as writer and host. Finally, retired Olympian fencer Peter Westbrook talks about his life and his sport as three of his inner-city students compete in the Sydney Olympics, mirroring his own journey out of poverty.

Charlie Rose with Clyde Haberman; Michael Korda; Bill T. Jones (September 6, 1995)

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Charlie Rose with Clyde Haberman; Michael Korda; Bill T. Jones (September 6, 1995)

Manufacturer: Charlie Rose
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Journalist Clyde Haberman talks about spending time in Jerusalem and covering the ongoing efforts for peace in the Middle East. Then, publisher Michael Korda talks about the success of author Jacqueline Susann, finding bestsellers, and living with prostate cancer. Finally, choreographer Bill T. Jones discusses his autobiography The Last Night on Earth. He also touches on integrating AIDS into dance and the controversial idea of victim art.

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