Dame Maggie

Recycling is a good thing, don't you think? That's why I am going to

dust off some of my early posts and repost them once in a while. So,

I guess you could consider Willow Manor a "green blog" in the bloggy

neighborhood! Here's one of these environmentally friendly posts:

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I've always thought Cezanne's Woman in Blue looks exactly like
Maggie Smith! It's as if she stepped out of the set of A Room With a
View and sat for Cezanne. I like the abstract lines in the dress, and of
course, the face is very typically Cezanne. The woman has that pitiful
expression that Maggie does so well. You already know how much I
admire Cezanne's work and Dame Maggie is one of my favorite actors.
I think one of her most powerful performances is her role of Judith
Hearne, in The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne, 1987. This film is
based on the novel, by the same name, by Brian Moore. She plays a
desperate and lonely middle aged piano teacher in Ireland in the
1950's. And she is phenomenal! For some unknown reason, this
wonderful film is not available on DVD. This is totally ludicrous to me,
considering all the flimsy stuff available out there. Maggie also gets to
display her full acting prowess in My House in Umbria, 2003. I watch

this one when I want to escape to Italy for a few hours.

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Here's a dynamic scene from The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne:

*Woman in Blue, 1900-1904, The Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg