Synopsis
Tea with Mussolini (1999) is Franco Zeffirelli's bittersweet wartime comedy-drama, and you can watch it online on iFILM. Florence, the mid-1930s. Fascism tightens its grip while a circle of elderly British ladies keeps sipping tea as if none of it concerns them.
The locals nickname these women the Scorpioni. Mary Wallace (Joan Plowright) takes in Luca, a motherless boy whose businessman father can't be bothered to raise him. Around them orbit the imperious Lady Hester (Maggie Smith), convinced a personal note from Il Duce makes her untouchable, painter Arabella (Judi Dench), and two loud Americans: art-loving Elsa, played by Cher, and the sharp-tongued archaeologist Georgie (Lily Tomlin). Then Britain declares war on Italy, and the cozy expatriate bubble bursts overnight.
Zeffirelli built the film from his own childhood; the boy is the director himself, and the eccentric women are the ones who actually raised him. That personal root gives it warmth instead of finger-wagging. Four legendary actresses sparring over teacups is reason enough to press play. Stream Tea with Mussolini (1999) online on iFILM.
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