Hotel Portofino
This drama set in a posh hotel in Portofino, Italy, successfully mixes the flavors of an Edwardian novel with Upstairs, Downstairs tensions and the trappings of British expat life in the Roaring ´20s and the shadow of Mussolini.
Several plot lines unfold among the ensemble cast, peering into the lives of the fading British aristocracy, their servants, and local Italian culture. One plot follows the love tangle involving young Lucian Ainsworth, artistic and war-scarred, whose father is arranging a marriage between him and the lovely but insipid Rose, while Lucian is captivated by Constance, nursemaid to the daughter of Lucian’s widowed sister.
The marginalized characters add a marvelous energy and perspective, especially from the secretly gay Nish, the Indian-born doctor who saved Lucian’s life, and Claudine, mistress to self-made American Jack Turner, an enchanting Parisian dancer whose experiences as a Black woman expose the prejudices of her world. Even the villains have flair: Lucian’s cruelly doltish father, Cecil, exploits Jack to sell a family Rubens and pay his gambling debts, while the officious Blackshirt Danioni wheedles, threatens, and pries. But the heart of the story belongs to Bella Ainsworth. Wounded by losses in the Great War and an unhappy marriage to Cecil, Bella tries to keep the Hotel Portofino an oasis of grace, sanity, and kindness in a darkening world.
Scenes are short, the movement swift, and the language draws less from Impressionism than pointillism in its ability to build sweeping emotion from a few pointed strokes. The action moves gracefully from comedy to heartbreak, melodrama to dramatic suspense. Charged adventures involving late night escapes, assignations, and art theft balance quieter moments that capture human kindness and the beauty of a passing world. A charming, moving, and memorable debut, highly recommended.
