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Daisies in December
A seaside hotel for senior citizens is the setting for late-season love as costars Jean Simmons and Joss Ackland meet and make a match in this romantic human drama. Gerald's a stuffy ex-stockbroker who's been placed in the facility for his own best interest. Katherine's a warm and friendly resident with a soaring spirit and a zest for life. Their union is a transforming one, and also timely, as Katherine stands on the threshhold of a painful and very frightening battle with cancer. Poignant storytelling with a winning pair of costars.
Release : | 1995 |
Rating : | 7.6 |
Studio : | Flextech Television Limited, |
Crew : | Cinematography, Director, |
Cast : | Jean Simmons Joss Ackland Muriel Pavlow Barbara Lott Eric Carte |
Genre : | Drama |
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Reviews
I love this movie so much
If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.
Blistering performances.
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
Like some others, I discovered this film while surfing one day at home, and fortunately it was near the beginning because the unusual love context (for films these days) and slowly developing drama were absorbing for me. Jean Simmons has been one of my all-time favorite actresses (especially in Elmer Gantry and Guys and Dolls) and it was wonderful to recognize her as a widowed woman in an English retirement home with a wry and gentle comic touch. As a guy who visited his mother for 10 years in a retirement home, it was moving and poignant to recognize the sweet and sometimes awkward interaction among the residents, and then to see Jean Simmons's character and Joss Ackland slowly and hesitantly gravitate to each other. Nobody's life is ever over until the casket is closed, and it's inspiring to see oldsters risk their emotions in their final years, tentatively at first and then with more assurance. Near the end, the ex-stockbroker Joss Ackland's character renders investment advice to the residents about moving from "blue-chip" stocks to riskier investments with the promise of greater returns, and then goes on to use that as an apt metaphor for being able to risk exposing our emotional vulnerabilities for the promise, and reward, of love, however fleeting and temporal.Poor, gravelly-voiced Joss.....when he finds cinematic love in his older years, while it's sweetness is probably enhanced by its fleeting nature (from health issues), it can still be a bittersweet experience for him, similar to what he experienced with Claire Bloom in the BBC version of C.S. Lewis's Shadowlands produced 10 years before Daisies.
I have really heard a line of the male star from later in this film. "The joys are everlasting." This is very encouraging to me. I came into watching this film and previously seen the male star as a bad guy. Jean Simmons has always played older women in my lifetime. The taxi driver adds some comic relief, not needed though. They go to a first dinner. He's embarrassed cause people start dancing but she wants to dance so it's OK. I recall a scene that shows some daisies blooming literally. I would like to own this film but can't find it anywhere. The poster who said this would be good for an old folks home is right. But there are many good movies, even edgy ones older people might enjoy. I have thought about donating to such homes some DVD's for them to enjoy. I would start by taking a survey of the residents on what they want to see(with movie summaries, not just titles.)
The film explores the problems of getting old and forming relationships in a very real and touching manner with excellent performances by Joss Ackland and Jean Simmonds. It has a very good story line and a very happy ending that could teach all elderly people a lesson in remembering to enjoy life and that they are never too old to take risks.Well worth seeing.I also spotted it on German TV before the BBC on the same day - so truly considered international.
I would thoroughly agree with the comments of others - this is a too-little seen movie. To the best of my knowledge it has only been shown on British TV once, whilst other inferior films get regular showings. The central characters are sensitively portrayed by Joss Ackland and Jean Simmons at their best, and the cameo roles provide some comic moments, among them the wonderful Barbara Lott playing an eccentric old lady. The balance between comedy and drama is well maintained in the way that British TV does so well - had this been an American production it would no doubt have been sickly sentimental to the point of overkill. I am very surprised to hear that the film isn't available on video