

117 minutes
3/25/1999
In 1930s fascist Italy, adolescent Luca just lost his mother. His father, a callous businessman, sends him to be taken care of by British expatriate Mary Wallace. Mary and her cultured friends - including artist Arabella, young widow Elsa, and archaeologist Georgie - keep a watchful eye over the boy. But the women's cultivated lives take a dramatic turn when Allied forces declare war on Mussolini.

Maggie Smith
as Lady Hester Random

Judi Dench
as Arabella

Joan Plowright
as Mary Wallace

Cher
as Elsa Strauss-Almerson

Lily Tomlin
as Georgina "Georgie" Rockwell
Baird Wallace
as Luca
Charlie Lucas
as Luca (Child)

Michael Williams
as British Consul
Paul Chequer
as Wilfred Random, aka Miss Lucy

Massimo Ghini
as Paolo

Paolo Seganti
as Vittorio Fanfanni
Tessa Pritchard
as Connie Raynor

Claudio Spadaro
as Benito Mussolini

Roberto Farnesi
as Maurizio

Chris Larkin
as Major Gibson

Giacomo Gonnella
as First Carabiniere
Allan Caister Pearce
as American Dealer

Hermann Weiskopf
as German Officer

Pino Colizzi
as Grandi