The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne 1987
7.1 / 10
The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne
A penniless middle-aged spinster scrapes by giving piano lessons in the Dublin of the 1950s. She makes a sad last bid for love with a fellow resident of her rundown boarding house, who imagines she has the money to bankroll the business he hopes to open.
A penniless middle-aged spinster scrapes by giving piano lessons in the Dublin of the 1950s. She makes a sad last bid for love with a fellow resident of her rundown boarding house, who imagines she has the money to bankroll the business he hopes to open.
Videos & Photos
All 1 Videos & 8 Photos
cast
Full Cast & Crew
... Judith Hearne
... James Madden
... Aunt D'Arcy
... Mrs. Rice
... Bernard Rice
RD
Rudi Davies... Mary
User reviews
See All 1 Reviews14 Nov 2022 by CinemaSerf
Maggie Smith offers quite a compelling performance in this adaptation of Brian Moore's novel. She is the eponymous piano teacher, having fallen on hard times since the death of her aunt (Dame Wendy Hiller). She comes to live in a boarding house in Dublin where she encounters a rather curious dynamic amongst the guests: the proprietress, her son, and her brother "Madden" (Bob Hoskins). She takes rather a shine to him, and the beautiful jewellery on her fingers leads him to believe that she might be useful backing his proposed hamburger business venture. Wires get crossed, and we discover that this lady has a few demons of her own. The story itself is fairly profound. It does not swipe at 1950s Dublin life, it exposes it to us. The hypocrisies of the church, of the middle class, the attitudes towards alcohol and sex are laid bare for us to observe and judge as we will. That is one of director Jack Clayton's better strategies for this ostensibly rather downbeat, frequently quite depressing piece of cinema. It doesn't deal at all with sectarianism, and is significantly more potent for that - it is very focussed on this woman adrift, hiding behind a facade as much of her own making as societal. Hoskins actually comes across as a bit of a cad, and quite a ruthless one at that, and there is a superbly seedy effort from Ian McNeice as "Bernard", whose corpulence and sleaziness contrast well with the supposed "respectable house" offered by his meddling landlady mother "Mrs. Rice" (Marie Keen). The story is episodic in nature, which does rob it of any real sense of progress, though. It resets itself once or twice too often, before an ending that, though slightly optimistic, has a sort of negating sense to it, too. The attention to detail is good, the Dublin scenarios, costumes and photography support, effortlessly, this leading lady in one of her best roles.
Directors:
Release Date:
Dec 23, 1987 (United Kingdom)
Run Time:
1hr 56`
MMPA Rating:
Original Language:
English
Production Countries:
United Kingdom
Status:
Released
Plot Keywords:
Related Movies To
The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne
Maggie Smith offers quite a compelling performance in this adaptation of Brian Moore's novel. She is the eponymous piano teacher, having fallen on hard times since the death of her aunt (Dame Wendy Hiller). She comes to live in a boarding house in Dublin where she encounters a rather curious dynamic amongst the guests: the proprietress, her son, and her brother "Madden" (Bob Hoskins). She takes rather a shine to him, and the beautiful jewellery on her fingers leads him to believe that she might be useful backing his proposed hamburger business venture. Wires get crossed, and we discover that this lady has a few demons of her own. The story itself is fairly profound. It does not swipe at 1950s Dublin life, it exposes it to us. The hypocrisies of the church, of the middle class, the attitudes towards alcohol and sex are laid bare for us to observe and judge as we will. That is one of director Jack Clayton's better strategies for this ostensibly rather downbeat, frequently quite depressing piece of cinema. It doesn't deal at all with sectarianism, and is significantly more potent for that - it is very focussed on this woman adrift, hiding behind a facade as much of her own making as societal. Hoskins actually comes across as a bit of a cad, and quite a ruthless one at that, and there is a superbly seedy effort from Ian McNeice as "Bernard", whose corpulence and sleaziness contrast well with the supposed "respectable house" offered by his meddling landlady mother "Mrs. Rice" (Marie Keen). The story is episodic in nature, which does rob it of any real sense of progress, though. It resets itself once or twice too often, before an ending that, though slightly optimistic, has a sort of negating sense to it, too. The attention to detail is good, the Dublin scenarios, costumes and photography support, effortlessly, this leading lady in one of her best roles.
Cast & Crew of
The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne
Directors & Credit Writers
... Director
Cast
... Judith Hearne
... James Madden
... Aunt D'Arcy
... Mrs. Rice
... Bernard Rice
RD
Rudi Davies... Mary
... Moira O'Neill
... Edie Marinan
... Mrs Friel
... Mr Lenehan
KB
Kate Binchy... Sister Ignatius
... Sister Mary-Paul
... Mrs Mullen
... The Major
... Dr Bowe
KF
Kevin Flood... Owen O'Neill
... Una O'Neill
... Kevin O'Neill
... Shaun O'Neill
... Youth at Liquor Store (as Aiden Murphy)
Produced By
... Producer
IL
Irene Lamb... Casting
Videos & Photos of
The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne
Videos ( 1)
Photos ( 8 )
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