My House in Umbria

My House in Umbria is a 2003 American made-for-television drama mystery film, loosely 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.

An unlikely group of people come together to support one another in solace and friendship, after being thrown together in the wake of a terrorist attack of the train carriage they were sharing in Italy.

Plot

Emily Delahunty 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.

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" a retired British Army veteran, Werner, a young German photographer, and Aimee, an American child 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 local policeman Inspector Girotti. 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 Aimee's uncle Thomas Riversmith, a university professor in the US. He agrees to take her back to the USA to live with his wife and himself, though they have little time for (and no experience with) raising children. They 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 he 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.

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

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