Synopsis
Superficial people are revealed and drastically changed by circumstance or luck in this a tale of death, seduction, blackmail and theft among British and Americans in Florence in the turbulent days just before World War II.
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Cast
- Kristin Scott ThomasMary Panton
- Sean PennRowley Flint
- Anne BancroftPrincess San Ferdinando
- James FoxSir Edgar Swift
- Derek JacobiLucky Leadbetter
- Jeremy DaviesKarl Richter
- Roger HammondColin Mackenzie
- Dudley SuttonHarold Atkinson
- Massimo GhiniBeppino Leopardi
- Lorenza IndovinaNina
Recommendations
- 75
Chicago Tribune
It's a corker of a story - a polished yarn full of desire, desperation and despair. - 75
Miami Herald
A refined, tasteful film about pure, hard lust. - 75
Chicago Sun-Times
This whole movie is about manners. There is sex and violence, but the movie is not about giving in to them; it's about carrying on as if they didn't exist. - 67
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
It has some wonderful moments and a handful of delicious Maughamian characters. - 60
L.A. Weekly
Impressive supporting cast---, in character parts both expanded and invented, enrich the enterprise. - 60
Village Voice
The Haases, whose previous films ("Angels and Insects," "The Music of Chance") evinced a remote, unfussy sensibility, are a poor fit for the melodramatic contortions that the story demands. - 60
Dallas Observer
Despite his natty wardrobe and calculated sangfroid, Penn doesn't summon up quite the right image. - 50
TV Guide Magazine
The surprise is how tame and passionless it all seems, particularly after director Philip Haas's fevered "Angels and Insects."
