‘Hotel Sorrento’

Richard Frankrin’s 1995 film of Hannie Rayson’s play has a lot on its mind but expresses it with exceptional grace. Nothing less than the nature of the Australian character in all its contradictions is what concerns its makers. This emerges through a classic intimate drama of reunion, as three sisters--widower Hillary (Caroline Gillmer), Manhattan-based Pippa (Tara Morice) and longtime London resident Meg (Caroline Goodall)--gather at their family home in the seaside resort of Sorrento. Joan Plowright (pictured) is a nearby neighbor whose frequent guest (John Hargreaves) is the editor of a bimonthly paper devoted to Australian cultural issues. The film plays like a contemporary Chekhov drama in which personal matters interact with larger issues, involving our hearts as well as our minds (Cinemax Wednesday at 8 p.m.).