The Last September

Theatre director Deborah Warner has rounded up a company of stellar British talent for this stylised depiction of the decline of English power in Ireland after the 1916 Easter rising. Maggie Smith and Michael Gambon are superlatively arch as aristocrats hosting relentless house parties and family gatherings despite the unrest, while Keeley Hawes plays the wayward niece whose rejection of an English soldier in favour of an Irish anarchist ultimately leads to tragedy. Slow and studied, Warner's film debut shows flashes of inspiration despite an innate theatricality that at times appears ridiculous and unreal. Yet she also creates great emotional poignancy, typified by the unhappily married Francie (Jane Birkin), a bitter and sad shadow who floats around the estate like the ghost of happiness past.