Cdare to do when an ex returns from the afterlife? The answer is in the film My wife is a ghosta sparkling comedy broadcast this evening at 9.20pm on Rai 3. The protagonist is an unfortunate writer in crisis who, thanks to a medium, Judi Dench, will come haunted by the specter of his vengeful first wife.
My wife is a ghostthe plot
To gather information in preparation for a book you intend to write, Charles Condomine (Dan Stevens) attends a séance conducted by the eccentric psychic Madame Arcati (Judi Dench). Although Charles with his wife Ruth (Isla Fisher) and their guests, the Bradmans, are decidedly skeptical about the experiment. But during the session Charles he hears the voice of his deceased first wife, Elvira (Leslie Mann), who then appears to him during the night.
Still in love, Elvira fulfills a series of “teases” towards the woman who took her place while he studies how to be joined in the afterlife by his unaware wife. Ending up killing Ruth by driving her car down a cliff. Charles is thus forced to face both of his wives’ ghosts, so much so that in the end it turns out that he hadn’t loved either of them, on the contrary, he just took advantage of them. Given that Ruth was the daughter of a famous director while Elvira dictated his books and was the true creator of his literary successes. But which of the two ghosts will get the better of man?
A scene from “My Wife is a Ghost”. (Courtesy Eagle Pictures)
A lively and not at all dated story
Based on the theatrical comedy of the 1930s Cheerful spirit by Noël Cowardalready splendidly brought to the cinema in 1945 by David Lean, My wife is a ghost is a classic sophisticated comedy of the time that challenges the rules of today’s modernity. In fact, thanks to this patina of classic Hollywood cinema, the film directed by Edward Hall conquers the viewer thanks to the happy mix of mystery, humor and retro charm. Divertissement without many pretensions, the film manages to escape the traps of the “dated” product thanks to brilliant writing. Characterized by effervescent jokes, sharp dialogues and characters with layered psychologies.
The director’s great merit is also that of having wanted adapting feminist themes of the time to modern times and provide the viewer with continuous changes of pace and perspective. Furthermore, the thorough cast – excellent Dan Stevens and Leslie Mann – only amplifies the pleasure of viewing, especially the presence of the great Judi Dench. In a quite eccentric and over the top role, very similar to the female characters embodied during her very long and glorious career between theater and cinema.
The legendary career of Judi Dench
Gorgeous 88 years old – she will turn 89 next December – the actress has breathed theater since she was a child thanks to her father’s profession, a doctor at the Royal Theater from London. Vanessa Redgrave’s classmate at an acting school in the 1950s, Judi quickly becomes a classmate after graduation one of the most requested and awarded performers in English theatre. Acting for the Royal Shakespeare Company on tour in all the theaters of the world and winning six highly coveted Olivier Awards. Cinema arrived almost by chance, at the end of the Sixties, but for her the first real home remained the theatre, where she often also acts together with her husband Michael Williams, married in 1971 and with whom she will have her daughter Finty.
After some notable roles in the 1980s – Room with a view by James Ivory, Henry V And Lady Brenda’s wedding –, the real public success arrives in the following decade. AND thanks to the role of M, the head of MI6 in the James Bond saga, which he will embody from 1995 to 2015. The definitive recognition from critics instead came in 1997 with the film Lto my queen where she played Queen Victoria and obtained an Oscar nomination for best leading actress, winning the Golden Globe for best leading actress in a drama film.
Perhaps to compensate her for missing the statuette the previous year, in 1998 she won the Oscar thanks to Shakespeare in Love, despite appearing on screen for just five minutes as Queen Elizabeth. Since then, without ever abandoning the stage, Judi Dench he acts in a myriad of films, winning awards and nominations. The last one, in 2021, thanks to the role of the grandmother of the little protagonist of Belfast Of Kenneth Branagh.
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