Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont

Sat, 02/19/2011 - 3:21pm by ballybeg

Watch this if you like Joan Plowright – she figures prominently. Don’t watch this if you need a movie heavy on plot – this is a about a relationship, quiet and slow, with lots of dialogue.

Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont is a lovely story about two people, both virtually abandoned by their families, and about 60 years apart in age, who find each other by accident and become friends. Mrs. Palfrey is elegant and lonely, over 80 and rather conservative, she loves Wordsworth. She is living in a “retirement” hotel in London, avoided by her grandson, Desmond, and looking back over her memories, not quite knowing how to let go of the past. Ludo, played by then-newcomer Rupert Friend, is 25ish: a wannabe writer; a bit of a misfit; charming, courteous and artistic with holes in his jeans; he loves Blake - and doesn’t quite know how to move forward into his future. An unlikely pair! Through a series of rather hilarious misunderstandings, Ludo poses as the grandson that everyone else in the hotel is waiting to meet. You can imagine where this leads (like when the real Desmond shows up).

While maintaining the duplicitous front of being related, Mrs. Palfrey and Ludo actually grow into the feeling of family they both desire. By turns both sad and funny, and always warm and utterly charming - Mrs. Palfrey and Ludo help each other find what they are each missing.