‘Talk of Angels’ Romances Politics, Beauty, Spain

There’s a touch of the Finzi-Continis about Nick Hamm’s “Talk of Angels,” even if the country isn’t Italy and the family isn’t Jewish. Fascism is coming, gentility is going; there’s a sense of imminent loss, of sun-drenched-turning-into-blood-drenched Europe that gives a solemn weight to what is otherwise a fairly frivolous film.

Of course, without beating too much about the bush, the reason “Talk of Angels” seems to exist at all is Polly Walker, easily one of the most beautiful women in film-- and who, for that reason alone, may not get a lot of starring roles. Her credits include “Enchanted April” and “For Roseanna”; she’s had small parts in “Patriot Games” and “Sliver.”

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But Walker is a lot like Dudley Moore in “Arthur,” when he’s told that the “right woman” could stop him from drinking: “She’d have to be a pretty big woman,” he says. And it would have to be a pretty big story to distract from Polly Walker.

And that we don’t have. Walker’s character is Mary Lavelle, a convent-educated Irishwoman transplanted to 1936 Spain to work for the family of the imperious intellectual Dr. Vicente Areavaga (Franco Nero), a disillusioned patriot whose radical instincts are rekindled by Mary. His son, the more flagrantly militant Francisco (Vincent Perez), is unhappily married to the stunning Beatriz (Ariadna Gil), who is far more concerned with how Francisco’s politics are threatening the Areavagas’ station than in the politics themselves.

Francisco and Mary do the gravitational dance, full of 19th-century stage reluctance and aversion to sin. Only a few leading characters are scarred or maimed, at least within the time frame of the film.

Amid all this, Walker remains the primary distraction, and it doesn’t help that director Hamm bisects the actress’ face with light at every opportunity, whether they’re inside or out; it’s gilding the lily, so to speak, but it’s interesting to watch just how deliberately the cinematography is orchestrated to show the actress at her most radiant. That and Spain. Oh, yes, let’s not forget Spain.

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Hamm, who is making his feature debut, has a more-than-prestigious cast at his disposal. Luis Bunuel favorite Francisco Rabal is Don Jorge, the child-molesting priest whom Mary exposes. Two Almodovar regulars, Marisa Paredes (“High Heels,” “The Flower of My Secret”), who plays Vicente’s wife, and Rossy DiPalma (in a literal fleeting glimpse) are here, as is Nero and Irish actress Ruth McCabe (“The Snapper,” “The Field,” “My Left Foot”), who plays O’Toole, the most extroverted of the gaggle of Irish nannies who populate the town.

And, last but not least, Frances McDormand, who does a memorable turn as Conlon, another of the nannies, whose attraction to Mary is not quite in keeping with the liturgy.

But the sum, as they all too often say, is not quite that of the parts. And “Talk of Angels” unfortunately exists in that romance-novel realm in which political concerns are mere adornments for the treacle-dripping issues of the heart.

* MPAA rating: PG-13, for politically motivated violence. Times guidelines: Violence and adult situations but nothing too extreme.

‘Talk of Angels’

Polly Walker: Mary Lavelle

Vincent Perez: Francisco Areavaga

Frances McDormand: Conlon

Franco Nero: Dr. Vicente Areavaga

Released by Miramax Films. Director Nick Hamm. Producer Patrick Cassavetti. Screenplay by Ann Guedes and Frank McGuinness, based on the novel “Mary Lavelle” by Kate O’Brien. Cinematographer Alexei Rodionov. Editor Gerry Hambling. Costumes Liz Waller, Lala Huete. Production design Michael Howells. Art director Eduardo Hidalgo. Set decorator Totty Whately. Running time: 1 hour, 37 minutes.

* Exclusively at Westside Pavilion Cinemas, 10800 W. Pico Blvd., West Los Angeles, (310) 475-0202.