Too few people have heard of this movie (or the original book), both of which are FABULOUS, FABULOUS, FABULOUS. The book is hilarious and romantic, and the movie is nearly as good although a bit sadder. Cassandra (an intelligent teenager and budding writer) lives in a dilapidated castle in the country in 1930s England with her sister Rose (who is desperate for money), father (a writer suffering from major writer’s block), and step-mother (an ex-artist’s model who likes to commune with nature in the nude). The plot thickens when two American brothers arrive to take possession of their inheritance, the local landowner’s mansion.
Lovely film in several different ways, and several cuts above the usual coming-of-age-in-picturesque-settings British undertaking. (It’s a bit like a less satirical “Cold Comfort Farm” stood on its head; there’s even a country lad who’s born to be a star.) Costume analysis, anyone?