Ladies in Black

This film can be enjoyed simply as a feel-good story with beautiful scenery. It also shows a time of change for Australia, as well as for the young heroine Lisa: Anglo- and Irish-Australians meeting Continental European culture; a working-class girl aspiring to go to university; women wanting fulfilling relationships with their husbands, rather than settling for "he's not a bad bloke".

A lovely adaptation of Madeleine St John's novel, The Women in Black, with a great ensemble cast. Beautiful late 1950s costumes and production design recreating 1950s Sydney.

One reviewer criticised the film because "nothing happens", but for the four central characters - Lisa, Fay, Patty, and Magda - it is a summer of significant change.

A profound seductive film. For the lovely chemistry between Julia Ormond and Vincent Perez. For Angourie Rice reminding a young Sylvia Plath. For the humor and nostalgic nuances. For the clash between two different worlds and for a form of delicate ingenuity. Short, just a beautiful film.

The casting for this movie was masterful. Shane Jacobson was fabulous as rhe 1950's Aussie dad and Ryan Corr was perfect in his role as the Hungarian "reffo". He owned that character! Julia Ormond played a Slovenian fashion guru to a tee and the sets were marvellous. From the department store in Sydney centre to the flat by the water in Mosman and the suburban, red texture brick house in Granville... spot on. A feel-good movie that has you laughing and reflecting on it for days afterwards.

The movie perfectly captures this distinct 50s post WW2 vibe of blissful ignorance. Think of movies like Father of the bride or Pillow talk. You can easily imagine the young Audrey Hepburn as Lisa, Spencer Tracy as her father and Doris Day as Fay. But don't get me wrong: the actual casting in this movie was spot on. Especially Julia Ormond stole the show with her wonderful performance.

If you don't expect this movie to be a socially or psychologically challenging experience and you just need to shut the harsh realities of the world out for 2h, I can't recommend this one enough!

It is great to return to times when women were treated with respect, when even maritial sex was shocking to a husband (sic), when women always had gloves. I have no idea about Australia, even more about its life in 1950-ties, so this is for me like a discovering a new land. A very interesting one. It is not a perfect movie. It is simply a very nice one to watch.