Summer's Lease

1989

Summer's Lease

7.5 | en | Drama

Molly Pargeter is a forty-something wife and mother of three girls, who leads a stable but dull life in 1980s West London. She feels overweight and there is no passion in her relationship with her husband Hugh, who is secretly seeing another woman. For most of her life she has found escape in detective novels and books on art, especially about the fifteenth century Italian fresco painter Piero Della Francesca. Then in a newspaper's small ads Molly sees the details of a villa in Tuscany, Italy to let and after travelling to Italy to view the villa "La Felicita" she decides to take it for the family's August holiday.

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Seasons & Episodes

EP4 The Urbino Trail

Nov. 22,1989

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EP3 A Battlefield

Nov. 15,1989

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EP2 Where the Water Goes

Nov. 08,1989

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EP1 Villa to Let

Nov. 01,1989

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7.5 | en | Drama | More Info

Released: 1989-11-01 | Released Producted By: BBC , WGBH Country: United States of America Budget: 0 Revenue: 0 Official Website:

Synopsis

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Cast

Susan Fleetwood , John Gielgud , Michael Pennington

Director

Tim Harvey

Producted By

BBC , WGBH

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Cast

Susan Fleetwood

as Molly Pargeter

Persuasion The Buddha of Suburbia A Few Short Journeys Of The Heart Chandler & Co. The Buddha of Suburbia Summer's Lease Dream Demon White Mischief The Sacrifice

John Gielgud

as Haverford Downs

Nothing Like a Dame Elizabeth DragonHeart Gulliver's Travels Shine Haunted The Portrait of a Lady The Leopard Son Gulliver's Travels

Michael Pennington

as Hugh Pargeter

Royal Shakespeare Company - Richard II Florence Nightingale Fragile Pyramid Summer's Lease The Return of Sherlock Holmes Playing Shakespeare Cymbeline

Reviews

fowler-11 "Summer's Lease" was the first John Mortimer book that I ever read and it transported me to Tuscany then- and it does so every time that I've read it since. The film version manages to capture much of the magic of the book in a story about a slightly dysfunctional family vacationing in a somehow sinister, rental villa in Tuscany. While the family dynamics appear to be the main purpose of the plot, this is in fact, a mystery as wife Molly searches for details about the mysterious owner of the rented villa; asking questions of the quirky residents of the local `ex-pat' community and following the `della Francesca' trail in search of the art works of Peiro della Francesca, and ultimately `The Flagellation", `undoubtedly the greatest small painting in the world.' The scenery of Tuscany is enhanced by the background music (by a group called Chameleon) in a way the mere pictures could never do - an acceptable compromise for the book's descriptive prose. There are lots of laughs from the antics of the various characters, especially those of Molly's randy father, played to perfection by John Gielgud, but the underlying sense of intrigue is never lost. A very enjoyable mini series that, sadly, is not available on VHS or DVD. Well worth watching it ever appears again.

KOG_VOS This drama was superbly cast, especially John Gielgud as Molly's philandering father. However Molly's journey of self discovery was underdeveloped as was the eventual climactic meeting with the mysterious "T. Buckland Kettering".The scenery of Tuscany is beautiful enough, but the acting does fall down in some places. For anyone wanting to appreciate Mortimer's classic, I suggest you read the book.

suzannep I don't need to reiterate anything about this mini series, since all of the previous comments do a good job of giving a thumb-nail sketch of the plot. However, I am willing to beg, borrow or steal a copy of this movie! Does anyone out there have a copy to sell to me??

steve-450 My only wish here is that more people would get to see this wonderful BBC mini-series set in the hillsides of tuscany. Unfortunately, it has not been released for distribution and there is some doubt whether a tape will ever be made available. An English housewife leases a country home in Italy for the summer. The family experiences the beauty of northern Italy and Molly (the mother) also becomes involved in a mystery to unravel. The countryside, including old church frescoes by Giotto takes center stage much of the time, but Sir John Gielgud's character blazes up the screen as the protagonist's eccentric (and randy) father-in-law. His hijinks with an old flame who has happened to settle into the region provide some of the best barrel laughs I can recall from any film. There is also the story of a dull marriage going through a renewal of sorts, as the husband starts to see more deeply into his wife's nature. All the characters are colorful and exquisitely drawn. If it should come up for a pbs replay, don't miss it!