A Matter of Time

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Movie Info

Singer and actress Liza Minnelli teamed up with her father, legendary director Vincente Minnelli, to make this evocative drama. Nina (Liza Minnelli) is a popular film star who, in the midst of a press conference, finds herself remembering her life before her big break, when she worked as a chambermaid at an Italian hotel which had seen better days. In the course of her duties, Nina meets Countessa Sanziani (Ingrid Bergman), an aging and eccentric woman who regales Nina with tales of her glamorous younger days. As the Countessa tells her more stories of her days of wealth and adventure, Nina imagines herself living out the same exciting stories, and soon the Countessa encourages her to find the courage to live out her own dreams. A Matter Of Time also featured another family team-up; Ingrid Bergman's daughter Isabella Rossellini has a small part as a nun attending to the ailing Countessa.

Rating:

PG
Genre:

Art House & International, Drama, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Romance
Directed By:

Vincente Minnelli
Written By:

John Gay
In Theaters:

Oct 31, 1976 wide
Runtime:

110 minutes
Studio:

American International Pictures

Cast

Liza Minnelli
as Nina

Ingrid Bergman
as Contessa Sanziani

Charles Boyer
as Count Sanziani

Spiros Andros
as Mario

Tina Aumont
as Valentina

Gabriele Ferzetti
as Antonio Vicari

Orso Maria Guerrini
as Gabriele d'Orazio

Amedeo Nazzari
as Tewfik

Fernando Rey
as Charles Van Maar

Isabella Rossellini
as Sister Pia

Geoffrey Copplestone
as Hotel Manager

Dominot
as Hotel Porter

Jean Mas
as Kaiser

Anna Proclemer
as Jeanne Blasto

Arnoldo Foà
as Pavelli

Spiros Focás

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Critic Reviews for A Matter of Time

All Critics (5) | Top Critics (2)

The movie just doesn't hold together... And yet we sit in this failed movie and give our attention to Ingrid Bergman, and there is a certain consolation.

Oct 30, 2018 | Rating: 2/4 | Full Review…

Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic
A bittersweet masterwork about the raging and frustrated passions of old age.

Aug 3, 2015 | Full Review…

Richard Brody
New Yorker
Top Critic
Vincente Minnelli disowned his last movie, A Matter of Time (1976), when it was taken away from him by its producers, American International Pictures, and after its initial release it pretty much disappeared from view.

Feb 23, 2011 | Full Review…

Dan Callahan
House Next Door
Strange, inventively styled drama shows Minnelli's flair for imagery and films about young people trying to enter the adult world.

Jan 1, 2011 | Full Review…

Michael E. Grost
Classic Film and Television
Minnelli's very last film stars his own daughter Liza (their only collaboration) as an awestruck chamber maid inspired by the adventures of an aging contessa (Ingrid Berman) to embark on her own fantasy journey.

Mar 27, 2007 | Rating: C+ | Full Review…

Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

View All Critic Reviews (5)

Audience Reviews for A Matter of Time

Sep 12, 2015

So much talent behind and in front of the camera to lay such a big egg. The whole thing reeks of decay and that seeps into the tenor of the film. Liza is all over the place and only registers in a positive way twice, in the final hospital scene and most of all during the musical performance of the song Do It Again-really her only powerful moment. Of interest more for its cast of second generation performers than any merit or entertainment value of the actual film. Beside Liza there's a brief appearance of Isabella Rossellini in her screen bow and as Liza's cousin Tina Aumont, who was the daughter of B movie star Maria Montez and Jean-Pierre Aumont. Nonsensical mess was the unfortunate swan song of both Vincente Minnelli and Charles Boyer. Such a missed opportunity.

jay n Super Reviewer