she was a little annoying. - My House in Umbria (2003) Discussion

[–] rosedelalune 19 years ago

She wasn't supposed to be a likable character; too much need and demonism for that. She was supposed to be flawed. Everybody's flawed. It's realistic.

She's more flawed than most and the same things that drive those flaws are the things that allow her strengths in other ways, such as recognising the lack of love on the part of the uncle and Aimee's need for love.

I loved the german, too; that was totally disappointing, but... oh well... I still liked him. I was a bit confused, though; was it him or his girlfriend that was to blame?

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[–] childintime-1 19 years ago

I was more than a little confused by her actions toward Tom, . The problem arises in that her actions did not really indicate just which flaw was driving her. I've heard that people who are sexually abused, especially as children, have difficulty expressing their emotions in a healthy way, perhaps thinking that "promiscuity" is a way of gaining acceptance from someone to whom they are attracted. There seemed to be a lot to indicate that she was doing just that, yet the way she described Tom showed clearly that she didn't like him at all, and even had a degree of contempt for him (or perhaps it was pity). In a way, nothing was really outside the realm of possibility, but I think the director could have done more to focus on the motivation behind some of her behaviour. Maggie Smith did a great job of showing a precarious balance between her flaws and strengths. Not unlike the many women in Tea With Mussolini and Paradise Road.

The blame for the bomb is never clearly established, as the only clues come from Emily's dreams, and what kind of evidence is that? What was inferred is that Werner's "accidental" meeting with the girl was in fact arranged as it was known that she would be taking a plane trip with some influential politicians or businessmen. The bomb had a barometric trigger, which was supposed to act once the plane had reached a certain altitude. It went off prematurely on board the train. It is also implied from Werner's actions with the other two men that he was perhaps reluctant to go through with the plan. He is politically motivated, but seems to be too sympathetic a character to be violent. Great speech by Emily when she tied so much of the story to the guilt that governs so much of what we do.

Once again I am impressed by Chris Cooper. He has such a capacity to play characters that on the whole are difficult to like, but he always portrays a kind of earnestness that makes you hope he will become likable. A very underrated actor on the level of Ed Harris. And of course Timothy Spall is always enjoyable - I'll never forget him in Secrets & Lies, along with the transcendent performance of Brenda Blethyn. My House in Umbria wasn't great but it was very good.

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[–] Cienna 18 years ago

There seemed to be a lot to indicate that she was doing just that, yet the way she described Tom showed clearly that she didn't like him at all, and even had a degree of contempt for him (or perhaps it was pity).

I think she was testing Tom. In order to get to know him better and determine his suitablity as a father. Then she realised that Tom was more like her real father and that he'd abandon his niece (as she was abandoned as a child) when the going got tough.

He is politically motivated, but seems to be too sympathetic a character to be violent.

I'm not so sure. Don't you think being in the blast changed him? To see the results of his actions on both himself and others.

My House in Umbria wasn't great but it was very good.

I agree.

Renée Zellweger Best Actress Oscar 2006.

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[–] Sagewhoknowsheronions 18 years ago

I enjoyed this a lot.

I think she was trying to like and trust Tom and bow to the inevitable, as she felt he had some right to his niece, more than she did, in a way, but it wasn't possible.
I think the German got a reality check from the blast too, and realised there was more to it than he had realised.

"I hate quotations, tell me what you know." Ralph Waldo Emerson.

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[–] Cienna 18 years ago

Yes, it was v. enjoyable. Maggie Smith was superb.

Renée Zellweger Best Actress Oscar 2006.

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[–] Sagewhoknowsheronions 18 years ago

Yes, enjoy most of hers.

"I hate quotations, tell me what you know." Ralph Waldo Emerson.

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[–] loumcp 14 years ago

I did see her as a likeable character - kindly and gracious, with a sad history that she drinks to cover up the pain of. I felt deepest empathy for her.

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[–] MyMovieTVRomance 12 years ago

I did see her as a likeable character - kindly and gracious, with a sad history that she drinks to cover up the pain of. I felt deepest empathy for her.

My feelings almost exactly! I thought she was a darling. Loved the way she was so hospitable, so nurturing, so generous, and so forgiving! Yes, she was flawed. But, to me, that did not make her unlikable. Besides, it's like she said---we all need forgiveness.

I am the movies I love! (^_^)

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[–] Mandyjam 12 years ago

Just came across this reply a month late! I agree with this!

"great minds think differently"

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[–] MyMovieTVRomance 12 years ago

Just came across this reply a month late! I agree with this!

Thanks, Mandyjam!

I am the movies I love! (^_^)

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[–] Ryu_Darkwood 18 years ago

I loved this flawed and emotionally damaged woman for her incredible way of romanticing the bad parts of life and her caring character. But I could also understand why she made Tom, an emotionally distant and extremely down to earth man, crazy.

And about the German: He IS a loveable man, if you can see through the unthinkable act he did to the passengers of the train. I could forgive him, just as mrs. Delahunty could.

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[–] wysteriard 17 years ago

Maggie is a romantic. She had a rough life but became a wealthy writer.
I thought the American man was a jerk. He was very arrogant and not a very attractive personality. It was neat to see Maggie Smith's character trying to understand this heartless's flake's head-space.

She wasn't trying to seduce the man. In fact I think she disliked the man.
Drinking a bit much and trying to be a good host.

Afterall, those survivors were staying in her residence. She didn't know anything about these strangers from the train.

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[–] Mandyjam 17 years ago

I understand why there might be a misunderstanding about Emily's behaviour towards Tom.

As he arrives, she is off in her wold of fiction- all the possibilities that one can imagine when a car containing a male stranger draws up at the door of a lonelyy single woman.

But she sums him up very qickly. He is almost incapable of smiling. He introduces himself to the child be saying that it is going to be difficult for them both. He cannot empathise, and he does not sympathise. His ONLY moment of joy is in finding an invading ant colony.

When Maggie goes to his room, with drinks, because she associates drink with sociability, her only intention is to plead with him.

But she is a very physical person. She is in the habit of touching. She has twice previously offended him by touching him, but she hasn't noticed. This time around she REEEAlly offends him!

The problem was that she sloshed liquor on him. Her spontaneous response was to mop it up, with her own dressing gown, and in attempting to do this, moved very close and exposed her breast to him. We catch an oblique view, but Tom must be able to see the whole boob. His response is to carry on as if she has sexually assaulted him!

There is such a complete clash of personality here. They function on such extremely different levels. But perhapps it is all good for him, ultimately. Somewhere in his uptight, self-righteous, judgemental brain something responds. There is some burgeoning understanding that love and forgiveness can overcome pain and guilt.

Both of them are going to change. Emily is going to change from having two people in her life that truly want to be with her and love her. She might also have learned a little something from Uncle Tom. One suspects that when he ultimately returns with Francine, they will find her much calmer and considerablly more sober.

Tom will never be the same again. He probably doesn't believe in Hell, any more than he bbelieves iin miracles, dreams and horoscopes, but the thought of waking up there, with the flames leaping around his bare legs, is probably enough to give him nightmares. He is going to have to explain to Francine why it is that he left the child behind, and in doing this, he will be forced to talk about love...

"great minds think differently"

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[–] photondancer 14 years ago

interesting interpretation of the bedroom scene; I had assumed the same as wysteriard, that she was trying to seduce him. I can see where you're coming from but I doubt if her motives were entirely unmixed. Marching into a man's bedroom near midnight clad only in a thin dressing gown and plumping herself down _right_ next to him? There were chairs in the room, she could have sat in one of them. I suspect that deep down she was dreaming of a scene where they ended up getting carried away by a sudden passion and he would decide to stay with her and Aimee. She has been taking refuge from her harsh youthful years in a fantasy romantic world for so long, I think she's beginning to have trouble distinguishing them. So she keeps telling herself Tom just needs a gentle feminine touch, a drink or two to help loosen those tight american inhibitions, and he'll see the light, divorce his wife and become the loving husband she never had. And, of course, the harder she tries to break down his walls (not realising or not admitting they're due to revulsion) the harder he resists. I am semi-scientific and watched this film with a scientist friend: I found Emily annoying but also felt sorry for her. My friend found her so annoying he couldn't finish the film. (In fact he walked out about the same time as Tom walked out on her as she reminisced by the book stand. So I think we can conclude that Tom at least is a believable character.)

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[–] loumcp 14 years ago

Completely agree with this interpretation. I don't think she intended to seduce this cold fish at all - particularly after she hears him denigrating her on the phone. I think she wanted to find his humanity.

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[–] willev1 10 years ago

Yes, she was annoying, and so were the rest of the characters. They were not real people at all, and their situation at the house became less and less believable. So I almost gave up on the film....until I read the idea expressed on another post: Was the train explosion real or just a figment of Emily's imagination? Pondering this possibility, I found the answer to all of my objections.

The blast was indeed in Emily's imagination only, and it inspired the starting point for her next novel. The rest of the film all unfolds in her mind as she sits in the train on her way to Milan and contemplates the various characters and their place in the plot of her new novel.

In her every book she is always the heroine, always with a new name and past history, and there is always a happy ending. Instead of a male romantic lead this time, the other main character will be Aimee, the young girl. Aimee's parents must be eliminated for the plot to succeed, as well as Werner's fiancee and the General's annoying daughter. The bomb blast takes care of all that very nicely.

The next step is to construct a bio for the Emily character, so she starts to do this immediately while "in the hospital." And what a lurid past she concocts for the new potboiler! Daredevil parents, abandonment, white slavery in Morocco, etc. No one would believe this stuff except for the bimbos who read her bodice-buster romances. She also makes the new Emily into a lush, as this enforces the concept of a very lonely lady looking for love. The real Emily is a proper English lady and a very successful writer who caters to her audience a la Barbara Cartland! She is hardly the "flawed character" so many of you envision. She seems to have fooled you all, but she is, after all, a seasoned professional who is very adept at creating such illusions.

The plot of any story also requires conflict, so the Uncle character is brought in for this purpose and the "lush" Emily is constantly testing him, but for the story to succeed, he must remain a rude and unpleasant presence, for this will provide the basis of the required happy ending. For more information about this theme, consult the other thread about the imaginary bomb blast.

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