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Rating:  - Not just a chick flick
I bought this movie for my wife. I figured it for a chick flick, and I suppose there is a bit of that, but it also had an interesting murder mystery and a host of interesting characters. I enjoyed the plot and the beautiful country.
Rating:  - Hoist the Jolly Roger!
Although I am still not certain who did what to whom and why, I nevertheless enjoyed a second watching of John Mortimer's mystery, "Summer's Lease," which I saw when it was first broadcast on PBS. "Summer's Lease" is John Gielgud's show. It does not matter how old he is; he still steals every scene as the outrageously libidinous old pirate of a father to Molly(coddle) Pargeter, a repressed 40-something wife and mother, who cannot help being embarrassed by his unrepentant tales of jolly "rogering", which he will tell to anyone, anywhere, and at any time, no matter how inappropriate the occasion. Mortimer has given Gielgud some of his best lines; one of my favorites is his apology for being a poor excuse for a socialist in a capitalist world: "Until we've got the red flag flying, we've got to live with the rat race!"
Among the delights of this series are the magnificent locations of Umbria and Tuscany, renamed Chiantishire by the British expatriate characters, since so many of them live there. As a former resident of Italy, I reveled at the sight of the cypress-dotted hills and at the sound of so many birds chirping (now a rarity in my part of California). Watching this series is equivalent to going on a vicarious vacation to some of the most stunning parts of Italy; and to put the panna on top of the gelato, as it were, we are treated to the magnificent frescoes of Piero della Francesca.
As for the mystery, it is suspenseful, as all of Mortimer's mysteries are. If it leaves us rather unsatisfied because it does not tie up all the loose ends, it nevertheless makes us think about what actually might have happened. The body in the swimming pool is a reality, but are the contessa and the British residents as sinister as they seem? Or are we, the viewers, merely seeing them through the eyes of Molly, not only a stranger in a strange land, but also a woman whose emotions are raw due to the strains put on her marriage by her philandering husband? Are we perhaps influenced by Molly's misinterpretation of her surroundings? Such a scenario renders Molly's blunderings and their catastrophic results the more convincing.
My only complaint is with Acorn Media, who, as usual, provides no subtitles that would aid those unused to British accents, or extras, other than a filmography of the actors that is difficult to read on a thirteen-inch screen (but perhaps it is more intelligible to those with a larger screen). Nevertheless, if you love Italy and enjoy John Mortimer, buy this DVD (but you might want to check out the "used and new" category on Amazon, because, as I discovered by accident, there are many new copies, straight from the manufacturer, at a much lower price, even with the $2.98 shipping and handling fees).
Rating: - Gielgud, and Gielgud, and Gielguud !
Two discs totaling 220 minutes viewing. Molly (mom)finds villa in Tuscany which Daddy (Gielgud) loves, but hubby and daughter not thrilled.Rolly-Polly plots unfold, The Villa owner disappears, followed by a water shortage, daughter in the well (got stuck and scared stiff. Daddy finds a rich widow, off to the horse races in Sienna. many changing scenarios and plots but story defintely lacks continuity. Good Author,(John Mortimer) but not his best work. For the price of this two disc set, I would say probably buying not a wise move. The story is long but uninteresting.
Rating: - Not American-style characters
I taped this Masterpiece Theatre mystery/comedy/drama when it first appeared on PBS some years ago, and I view it again every year or so. It is a pleasure to watch Sir John Gielgud work even though, as mentioned by another reviewer, he was not up to his best in old age. (Another example of a remarkable performance by an aged actor is that of Sir Lawrence Olivier in "The Ebony Tower," adapted from the novel by John Fowles.)
In other reviews, Susan Fleetwood's characterization of Molly Pargeter comes in for some harsh criticism. She is seen to be "irritating" and "stupid." The only fault I see is that Molly is not a typical American-style heroine. She is a good-hearted woman whose dreamy demeanor is a defense against her charming but bullying father, her silly, ineffectual husband and her intelligent, somewhat boisterous children. Molly's interior life interests her more than her real life; thus her determination to ferret out the myterious owner of the family's rented villa by following clues along the Piero della Francesca "trail."
Summer's Lease is good fun for those who do not expect a high-powered, predictable mystery with a neatly wrapped ending but are happy to settle for quirky British characters in a lovely Tuscan setting. As a bonus, they'll receive a smattering of Italian art and regional customs.
Rating: - GOOD ACTING
AS USUAL, MR. GEILGUD, AND MR, KEMP ARE FLAWLESS IN THIS MOVIE. THE SCENES ARE ALSO BEAUTIFUL. I FEEL LIKE RENTING THE SAME PLACE.AFTER WATCHING THIS MOVIE UNFOLD.
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