The 1991 movie of this title is one of my favorite all time films. It is simple and described with an understated narrative of four British women on holiday in Italy. It is rated 7.3 on IMDB, which is far below its worth as evidenced by its many awards. However, the depth of this film transcends its plot. It satisfies my three essentials for any good film; 1) an interesting or scenic setting, 2) likable characters, and 3) an engaging story with a good ending. 

What I particularly like are the references to God and how love is revealed through its transforming affect. This is a feel good movie in the end, but it takes the audience through a progression of tangible, social, and finally spiritual awakening to arrive at a resolution worthy of its brief and transitory references to God. Early in the film we hear a snippet of a Ministers sermon, “God is able to work all things out for good, but He doesn’t always bother.” Later, the characters agree in church they have spent considerable portions of their life helping others, but it has left them sad, weary and unhappy. This is a view many have of church work and it’s related teachings. Such incorrect perspectives provide the basis of Loves redemption.

Unique from any other film, I can recall, is it’s prophetic theme. One character demonstrates and expresses an increasing degree of prophetic insight. It is depicted as quirkiness and happenstance at first. Then it evolves into comments and insights about peoples intents, feelings and actions that turn out to be accurate. No one really acknowledges the prophetic gift of the character until the end and by then she says, “I just see it.” One could watch the film ignoring these prophetic comments or assume they were educated guesses, woman’s intuition or assumptions that happened to be right. However, given the references to God, various significant coincidences, and the power of Love it seems to me the author was portraying a very real illustration of the modern day gift of prophecy. Prophecy is not always foretelling the future, but rather, revealing hidden truths for the purpose of encouragement. This is exactly what scripture teaches. (1 Cor. 14:3) To see prophecy illustrated in a secular film is unprecedented. The same is true for loves effect on the characters individually and collectively. How can a simple story describe in such depth the heaviness and melancholy of a loveless marriage or lonely life? How can images and brief dialog covey Loves ability to change a person from the inside out? This movie is simply a remarkable illustration of the power of unselfish, courageous love.