My House in Umbria

This article is about the 2003 television film. For the 1991 novella on which it is based, see Two Lives (novel).

My House in Umbria
Original theatrical poster
Genre	Drama Mystery Romance Thriller
Based on	My House in Umbria by William Trevor
Screenplay by	Hugh Whitemore
Directed by	Richard Loncraine
Starring	Maggie Smith Ronnie Barker Chris Cooper Timothy Spall Giancarlo Giannini Benno Fürmann
Music by	Claudio Capponi
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Producer	Robert Allan Ackerman
Cinematography	Marco Pontecorvo
Editor	Humphrey Dixon
Running time	109 minutes
Production companies	HBO Films Canine Films Panorama Films
Original release
Network	HBO
Release	May 25, 2003 (2003-05-25)

My House in Umbria is a 2003 American made-for-television drama mystery film, based on the 1991 novella of the same name by William Trevor and published along with another novella in the volume Two Lives. The film stars Maggie Smith and Chris Cooper, and was directed by Richard Loncraine.

Plot

Emily Delahunty (Maggie Smith) is an eccentric British romance novelist who lives in Umbria in central Italy, where she runs a pensione for tourists. Mrs Delahunty settled in Italy to flee from a somewhat traumatic past which still haunts her, and lives alone apart from a few servants and her manager Quinty (Timothy Spall). One day while taking a shopping trip to Milano, the train she is on is bombed by terrorists. After she wakes up in a hospital, she invites three of the other survivors of the disaster to stay at her villa for recuperation. Of these are "the General" (Ronnie Barker) a retired British Army veteran, Werner (Benno Fürmann), a young German photographer, and Aimee (Emmy Clarke), a young American girl who has now become mute after her parents were both killed in the explosion.

As the group recover from their ordeal (in which the General lost his daughter, and Werner lost his girlfriend and suffered considerable burns to his arm and torso), the explosion is being investigated by Inspector Girotti (Giancarlo Giannini), a local policeman. Responding to the warmth and kindness of Mrs Delahunty and the others, Aimee begins to speak again, while the local authorities seek out any relatives who might be able to take her in. They eventually locate her uncle, Thomas Riversmith (Chris Cooper), a university professor in the US. He agrees to take Aimee back to the USA to live with his wife and himself, though they have little time for (and no experience with) raising children and are particularly concerned about trying to raise a child who has been through such a traumatic experience. Via flashbacks it is revealed that Mrs. Delahunty was an orphan who was molested as a child by her adoptive father. At a young age she fled England with a travelling salesman and spent years living as a prostitute before Quinty convinced her to move to Italy.

Mrs Delahunty grows to like her new housemates and invites the General and Werner to stay indefinitely. She also works hard to find common ground with Aimee's uncle and tries to convince him to leave Aimee with her in Italy rather than taking the child back to America to a loveless home. Meanwhile, Inspector Girotti discovers that Werner was involved in the terrorist attack on the train. Mrs Delahunty reluctantly admits that she has come to the same conclusion, but Werner departs in secret before he can be confronted. Although disappointed by the revelation, Mrs Delahunty is delighted to learn that the General intends to stay on and that Thomas has allowed Aimee to remain as well. The film ends with Mrs Delahunty embracing her new circumstances, having finally resolved her inner turmoil.

The plot departs substantially from that of William Trevor's somber novella.

Cast

• Maggie Smith as Mrs. Emily Delahunty
• Chris Cooper as Thomas Riversmith
• Timothy Spall as Quinty
• Emmy Clarke as Aimee
• Ronnie Barker as The General
• Benno Fürmann as Werner
• Giancarlo Giannini as Inspector Girotti
• Libero De Rienzo as Dr. Innocenti
• Cecilia Dazzi as Rosa Crevelli

Production

• Much of the film was made on location in Italy, including Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Siena and Tuscany.

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominee(s)	Result	Ref.
2003	Online Film & Television Association Awards	Best Motion Picture Made for Television		Nominated
		Best Actress in a Motion Picture or Miniseries	Maggie Smith	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture or Miniseries	Chris Cooper	Nominated
		Best Ensemble in a Motion Picture or Miniseries		Nominated
		Best Direction of a Motion Picture or Miniseries	Richard Loncraine	Nominated
		Best Writing of a Motion Picture or Miniseries	Hugh Whitemore	Nominated
		Best Costume Design in a Motion Picture or Miniseries		Won
		Best Editing in a Motion Picture or Miniseries		Nominated
		Best Lighting in a Motion Picture or Miniseries		Nominated
		Best Makeup/Hairstyling in a Motion Picture or Miniseries		Nominated
		Best Production Design in a Motion Picture or Miniseries		Nominated
	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Made for Television Movie	Robert Allan Ackerman, Frank Doelger, and Ann Wingate	Nominated
		Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie	Maggie Smith	Won
		Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie	Chris Cooper	Nominated
		Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special	Richard Loncraine	Nominated
		Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special	Hugh Whitemore	Nominated
		Outstanding Art Direction for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special	Luciana Arrighi, Cristina Onori, and Alessandra Querzola	Nominated
		Outstanding Casting for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special	Irene Lamb	Nominated
		Outstanding Costumes for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special	Nicoletta Ercole, Rosa Palma, and M. Erminia Melato	Nominated
		Outstanding Hairstyling for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special	Maria Teresa Corridoni, Desiree Corridoni, Gianna Viola, and Anna De Santis	Nominated
2004	AARP Movies for Grownups Awards	Best TV Movie		Nominated
	Cinema Audio Society Awards	Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Television Movies and Mini-Series	David Stephenson, Robin O'Donoghue, Mike Dowson, and Mark Taylor	Nominated
	Directors Guild of America Awards	Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television	Richard Loncraine	Nominated
	Golden Globe Awards	Best Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television		Nominated
		Best Actress in a Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made for Television	Maggie Smith	Nominated
	Producers Guild of America Awards	David L. Wolper Award for Outstanding Producer of Long-Form Television	Frank Doelger, Robert Allan Ackerman, and Ann Wingate	Won
	Satellite Awards	Best Motion Picture Made for Television		Nominated
		Best Actress in a Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made for Television	Maggie Smith	Nominated
		Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made for Television	Chris Cooper	Nominated
	Young Artist Awards	Best Family Television Movie or Special		Nominated
		Best Performance in a TV Movie, Miniseries or Special – Supporting Young Actress	Emmy Clarke	Won

External links

• My House in Umbria at IMDb