The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne

11/14/2022

Maggie Smith offers quite a compelling performance in this adaptation of Brian Moore's novel. She is the eponymous piano teacher, having fallen on hard times since the death of her aunt (Dame Wendy Hiller). She comes to live in a boarding house in Dublin where she encounters a rather curious dynamic amongst the guests: the proprietress, her son, and her brother "Madden" (Bob Hoskins). She takes rather a shine to him, and the beautiful jewellery on her fingers leads him to believe that she might be useful backing his proposed hamburger business venture. Wires get crossed, and we discover that this lady has a few demons of her own. The story itself is fairly profound. It does not swipe at 1950s Dublin life, it exposes it to us. The hypocrisies of the church, of the middle class, the attitude