Suzanne Bertish Movies

As the first season of Rome draws to a close, Vorenus (Kevin McKidd) and Pullo (Ray Stevenson) learn that they are heroes on the streets of the city, "symbols of brotherly love and redemption." On a trip to consecrate the land he and his wife have been given, Vorenus tells Niobe (Indira Varma) that Caesar (Ciarán Hinds) might exile him for disobeying his orders by helping Pullo. But Caesar later explains that it's politically unfeasible to punish the heroes, and if he does nothing, he'll appear weak, so, as part of a larger plan to incorporate (loyal) "plebs" and foreign citizens into the Senate, he makes Vorenus a senator. Of course, Caesar's ulterior motive is to have the "ferocious" Vorenus at his side so that no one will try to kill him. Pullo, near death, still manages to make his way from his sick bed, eager to reap the bounty of his newfound celebrity. Instead, he ends up collapsing at Vorenus' home, where Niobe assigns his care to Eirene (Chiara Mastalli), who contemplates murder. With Vorenus joined to Caesar on the Senate floor, the growing group of conspirators fears they will not have the opportunity to kill Caesar. While some would be content to poison him, or murder him in his bed, Brutus (Tobias Menzies) insists that the deed "must be done honorably." Then Servilia (Lindsay Duncan) realizes where she's heard Vorenus' name before, and sets a plot in motion to separate the hero from the dictator at the pivotal moment. While the plot is unfolding, Servilia invites Atia (Polly Walker) and Octavian (Max Pirkis) to her home, and tells them of her further plans for vengeance. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

Tennessee Williams' 1958 novella The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone was first filmed in 1961, with Vivien Leigh as the middle-aged title character and Warren Beatty as the callow gigolo with whom she falls in love. Since the "shocking" aspects of a May-December romance in which the woman is December have lost their punch over the years, it is perhaps wise that this 2003 made-for-cable remake is a period piece, set in the mid-'50s. Helen Mirren stars as Karen Stone, a former Broadway actress who has given up her career in favor of a secure and somewhat boring marriage to a wealthy American (Brian Dennehy). When her husband dies unexpectedly during a vacation to Italy, the widowed Mrs. Stone is desperate for companionship and affection. Through the auspices of a glamorous but somewhat seedy procurer named The Contessa (Anne Bancroft), Mrs. Stone is paired off with the studdish Paolo (Olivier Martinez), who is several years Karen's junior. What begins as merely a passionate physical attraction quickly deepens into true love -- but Mrs. Stone may be far more enamored of the mercenary Paolo than he is of her. Watching this spectacle from the sidelines is author Williams' alter ego, a wispy journalist named Christopher (Roger Allam, whose flamboyant Tennessee-isms handily steal the show). Filmed on location in Dublin and Rome, The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone debuted May 4, 2003, on the Showtime cable service. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Lesbians on ice provide the focus of this British drama. Steffi and Natalie are amateur skaters at the same rink in London. Steffi and her partner, a journalist, are going to write a mainstream article about lesbian participation in the June 1994 Gay Games in New York. Steffi's partner bows out just before they are to go so Steffi tries to get Natalie involved. Natalie has two things against her. One, she is an average skater. Two, she is straight. Steffi successfully seduces Natalie one weekend and Natalie falls in love. Trouble erupts when Natalie discovers that Steffi and her lover were only using her to get a story. Natalie drops out the night before their trip to New York. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

For sheer abject self-indulgence this side of an Eric Schaeffer movie, one need look no further than the films of Henry Jaglom. Jaglom's vanity productions require an intense Stalin-like loyalty to the filmmaker and his films going in, otherwise a viewer is lost. So when, in Venice/Venice, Henry Jaglom appears as a filmmaker named Dean at the Venice Film Festival, there promoting a film resembling a Henry Jaglom film, a viewer must give himself up to the force or walk out of the theater. Dean is the kind of pretentious Hollywood type who likes to wear his heart and his distribution contract on his sleeve, so when adoring European journalist Jeanne (Nelly Alard) inexplicably smiles at him the right way, filmgoers will come to understand why the film business is so attractive to wimpy film geeks. Jeanne and Dean fall in love and take a walking tour of Venice, but Jeanne pays no attention to the city, since she religiously hangs on every word Dean has to say regarding love, films, and destiny. Since there are more pearls of wisdom to be gloaned from this Bel-Air Gandhi, Jeanne willingly follows Dean back to Venice, California. Realizing that she has already spent too much time basking in the brilliance of Dean's sun, Penny (Melissa Leo), Dean's California girlfriend, obligingly offers to pack up and leave when she sees Dean returning to Southern California with Jeanne in tow. When Henry Jaglom talks, they all listen. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

Part of the long-running British mystery series based on the stories by Colin Dexter, Inspector Morse: Last Seen Wearing was first aired in the U.K. in 1988. Inspector Morse (John Thaw) and Sergeant Lewis (Kevin Whately) investigate the disappearance of missing teenager Valerie Craven (Melissa Simmonds). After visiting her acquaintances at the Homewood School for Girls, Morse believes she was murdered. Before they can solve the case, headmaster Cheryl Baines (Suzanne Bertish) turns up dead. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

David Suchet (Poirot) stars as famed Austrian physician Sigmund Freud, the father of modern psychoanalysis, in this biopic written by Carey Harrison, and directed by Moira Armstrong. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Like the Virginia Woolf novel which it interprets, this 1983 BBC production has three parts: "The Window," "Time Passes," and "The Lighthouse." The first focuses on one day in the life of the Ramsay family -- the father and mother, their eight children, and four guests -- while they vacation on the Cornwall peninsula in remote southwestern England. In conversations in the summer house, at the beach, during strolls, and at cricket and wrestling matches, the characters reveal their beliefs, their prejudices, and their longings in an era when old traditions are dying and new traditions are quickening. James, six -- a brat to his father but a dear to his mother -- repeatedly asserts his wish to visit a lighthouse on an island within easy rowing distance. His father Michael Gough refuses to go (and, thus, no one goes) because the weather isn't right. In a moment of dramatic irony, the self-centered father scolds the boy for always thinking only of himself. Self-effacing Mrs. Ramsay (Rosemary Harris) comforts the child. She also sees to the needs of other family members and guests, who have lighthouses of their own -- metaphorical ones -- to preoccupy them. Her daughter, Prue, for example, anticipates her coming marriage while visitor Lily Briscoe looks forward to her career as a painter. In defiance of social convention, Briscoe chooses to remain unmarried. The film depicts the second part of the novel, "Time Passes," with transitional scenes showing changes of season over ten years. During this period, Mrs. Ramsey dies, and Mr. Ramsey laments her death in a weeping spell, saying she never really understood that he loved her. In the final part, "The Lighthouse," James finally gets his wish when he, his father, and other members of the family row out to the towering beacon. On the shore, meanwhile, Lily Briscoe finishes a painting of Mrs. Ramsey. ~ Mike Cummings, Rovi

In this WWII romance, Harrison Ford (face-to-face with superstardom from his involvement in Star Wars) is cast as David Halloran, an American bomber pilot stationed in London. During an air raid, Halloran meets and falls in love with beautiful Briton Margaret Sellinger (Lesley-Anne Down). Naturally, Margaret is married, and just as naturally David hopes that this won't make too much difference in their relationship. But this is not to be: Halloran is assigned behind enemy lines on a dangerous assignment, and his partner in this endeavor is Margaret's husband, Paul (Christopher Plummer). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi