Tea with Mussolini

"A story of civilized disobedience"

1999 1h 57m EN

😐

6.4

MID

🍅

64%

FRESH

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

6.9

IMDB

★6.4TMDB · 161🍅64%Rotten Tomatoes●53Metacritic★6.9IMDB · 13,942

ComedyDramaWar

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

In 1930s fascist Italy, adolescent Luca just lost his mother. His father, a callous businessman, sends him to be taken care of by British expatriate Mary Wallace. Mary and her cultured friends - including artist Arabella, young widow Elsa, and archaeologist Georgie - keep a watchful eye over the boy. But the women's cultivated lives take a dramatic turn when Allied forces declare war on Mussolini.

“A story of civilized disobedience”

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Cast

Maggie Smith
Lady Hester Random
Judi Dench
Arabella
Joan Plowright
Mary Wallace
Cher
Elsa Strauss-Almerson
Lily Tomlin
Georgina "Georgie" Rockwell
Baird Wallace
Luca
Charlie Lucas
Luca (Child)
Michael Williams
British Consul

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Franco Zeffirelli
Writers: John Mortimer
Languages: English, Italian, Russian
Countries: United Kingdom, Italy

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

27 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 3 languages: English, Italian, Russian.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: United Kingdom, Italy.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Franco Zeffirelli, shot by David Watkin. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Tariq Anwar shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Maggie Smith and Judi Dench and Joan Plowright carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "A story of civilized disobedience".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0120857 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Franco Zeffirelli directs. David Watkin behind the camera. Tariq Anwar cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United Kingdom, Italy. Dialogue in English, Italian, Russian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

127 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2Dialogue crosses 3 languages: English, Italian, Russian.
3International production across 2 countries: United Kingdom, Italy.
4Directed by Franco Zeffirelli, shot by David Watkin. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Editor Tariq Anwar shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Maggie Smith and Judi Dench and Joan Plowright carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "A story of civilized disobedience".
8IMDB entry: tt0120857 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 12 themes, including "hotel", "ambassador", "loss of loved one", "italy".

The technical file

Cinematography: David Watkin
Editing: Tariq Anwar
Costume design: Anna Anni
Makeup / hair: Franco Corridoni
Sound: Dean Humphreys
Runtime: 117 min · 1h 57m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $12,000,000
Box office: $21,001,563
Return: 175% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: Tea with Mussolini (1999)
Rotten Tomatoes: 64% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 53/100
IMDB rating: 6.9/10 · 13,942 votes
MPAA: PG

Awards

Won 1 BAFTA Award. 5 wins & 3 nominations total

Also by

Franco Zeffirelli

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

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Wallpaper

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2025-12-20
★ 7/10
The “Scorpioni” are a bunch of entitled and privileged British women who live in Florence in the 1930s under the leadership of “Lady Hester” (Dame Maggie Smith). She is the widow of the former British Ambassador and is not entirely unsympathetic to the aspirations of “Il Duce”. Occasionally, they have to tolerate the interloping presence of the brash and wealthy American actress “Elsa” (Cher) but even with the aggressive rise of the fascists, that appears to be the only inconvenience in their rarified world. One of their number, “Mary” (Joan Plowright) is a kindly soul, and has taken the recently orphaned young “Luca” (Charlie Lucas) under her wing - and that provides a link, of sorts, between herself and the American who also cares deeply for the young lad and who wants to make some providion for his future. When the civil disorder starts to interrupt the sanctity of afternoon tea, “Lady Hester” is outraged and seeks an audience with Mussolini and whilst there she promised that he will personally guarantee her safety. Doubtless, as soon as she left his palace he had forgotten all about her, but armed with a photo of the two together she assumes he is as good as his word. When war breaks out between Italy and Britain, the ladies are dragooned into a dormitory and thence to an hotel, and she still believes she is being looked after. We, on the other hand, soon learn just who their guardian angel actually is, and when the US enters the war, even “Elsa” finds herself on a sticky wicket. “Luca” (now Baird Wallace) has got himself involved with the resistance and so is trying to help the ladies when he can, but after “Elsa” makes quite an important error of judgement just about everyone is in peril from the Gestapo. The story is a little strung out, but it’s beautiful settings in Florence and Siena and that lovely sunshine on the stonework gives the film a gorgeous richness to it’s look. The ensemble cast are a formidable array of talents, and although only really sparingly used it’s worth noting Dame Judi Dench’s effort as the somewhat windswept artist “Arabella” and the frequently scene-stealing Lily Tomlin as the no-nonsense “Georgie” - quite possibly the only woman with her head screwed on properly amongst the lot of them. The story has something of the end of empire to it, epitomised by a distinct change in attitudes towards English as opposed to German at school, and the writing does contain some humour as we follow the antics of these ladies who, I have to say, never really had much of a clue as to the goings-on in the real world anyway. It spans pretty much an whole decade and is prone to quite considerable leaps in time, but that actually serves quite well to showcase some of the starkness of the changes in their attitudes and behaviour as the war raged on. Might it be autobiographical from Zeffirelli? Well it has a haphazard authenticity to it that could suggest some of these characters might have been real, or almost real, and the amiability of it all makes it worth a watch - just to see these pros both in front and behind the camera in action.

Production companies