Reviews

Meg (deHavilland) confesses to Clara's (Mimieux) female Italian tutor that she looks on the bright side of Clara's disability: she will always have a little girl which every mother really wants. Still, her "sad smile" (which intrigues romantic Senor Nacarelli (Brazzi)) reveals the tension she feels in her increasingly difficult position of sheltering Clara at home and abroad. She expects a relaxing, diverting vacation with her daughter, going about freely as most tourists do, sightseeing and dining in beautiful Italy, until lithe, pretty Clara attracts the attention of an attractive, effusive young businessman.

Meg doesn't want to be free of Clara, confirmed to the viewer way before the heated argument with her husband about making a final decision for Clara's future; it's simply that she won't give up her dreams of a fulfilling adult life for Clara, which for years have been slipping away. One of the many interesting scenes is Meg explaining to the husband in the hotel room why Clara could make a successful marriage to the Italian boy. Meg's projection is charming, romantic and not entirely unrealistic; she has an answer for each of her husband's dubious questions. Beyond all that, the boy loves her "just as she is." The husband grudgingly listens until Meg crumples up with self-doubt, giving him a psychological edge. But as he leaves the hotel room with her cold kiss as the last word, the wheels in her mind are already turning as she watches him, from a high-story window, get into a cab for the airport. She paces a bit, looks in on sleeping Clara, and with steely control without a hint of desperation phones the desk for two train tickets back to Florence, the scene of the burgeoning romance. The look of triumph on her face as she hangs up, having completed a countermove that could destroy her own marriage or risk Clara's happiness on an unsure future, across the ocean no less, is gratifying. She has finally "done something," and you feel her sigh of relief. This is a turning point in the movie. Some reviews here state that the premise is not credible, that Clara should exhibit more physical awkwardness with her stunted mental development. I disagree: she has a "seizure" twice (hysteric loss of emotional control) and is sedated once. She twirls and skips. A ten-year-old can be quite cogent and sociable. The fact that she picks up Italian so quickly: children do that! And she has a private teacher. I believe Rosemary Kennedy was the same way: she couldn't advance beyond elementary 4th-grade work, and was temperamental, pretty and yearning for freedom.

*May contain spoilers* I've read some Shakespeare, but this portrayal of a modern-day succession to the throne is a laughable conjured-up tragedy. The premise is way too heavy-handed. The Queen has died a natural death in her nineties, not had her head chopped off. Camilla informs clueless Kate that Charles doesn't have to wait to be king until the actual coronation? Why are William and Harry such joyless, tortured souls? I give it three stars instead of one because of the awesome requiem music. I'm not the typical American Diana-worshipper but her ghost scene was impressive. Apropos, as this is faux Shakespeare.