Amazon.com video review:
In filming this semi-autobiographical account of life in Italy during
the
dawn of World War II, director Franco Zeffirelli imbues Tea with
Mussolini with the mixed blessings of fond reminiscence. It's a warmly
inviting film, as impeccable as any Merchant-Ivory production, but like a
hazy memory it's uncertain in its narrative intentions. And yet with an
exceptional cast to compensate, the film's as engaging as it is
inconsequential.
Zeffirelli's alter ego is Luca (Charlie Lucas in youth; Baird Wallace as a
teenager), who is raised in Florence by Mary (Joan Plowright), the
middle-aged secretary of his absentee father. Luca lives among a loose band
of British and American women, nicknamed "Il Scorpioni" for their stinging
wit in the shadows of Mussolini's thuggish dictatorship. Along with Mary
there's Hester (Maggie Smith), a crusty ambassador's widow; Arabella (Judi
Dench), a lively bohemian; lesbian archaeologist Georgie (Lily Tomlin); and
Elsa (Cher), a flamboyant American who quietly finances Luca's
education.
Il Scorpioni witness the rise of fascism and the dangers of resistance,
weathering dictatorial custody and (in Elsa's case) falling prey to
heartbreaking betrayal. But Tea with Mussolini carries little
dramatic weight; you have to forgive its unfocused structure to appreciate
its merits. Zeffirelli gently conveys the passage from pleasantry to
wartime, and he's drawn uniformly fine performances from this seasoned
cast. If the film is vaguely unsatisfying, it's only because it had the
makings of greatness and settles instead for an ethereal quality of
anecdotal enchantment. --Jeff Shannon
