Enchanted April

In Enchanted April four women yearning to leave behind their drab London existences rent a villa in Italy for a month and come upon paradise. Yes, the characterizations are a little too schemati — madonna (Richardson), whore (Polly Walker), battle-ax (Plowright), and birdbrain (Josie Lawrence) — but the superb quartet of actresses are as hypnotic as the villa's lush surroundings. The lovely film by Mike Newell, slightly cramped by the confines of video, is nevertheless like going on an all-too-brief vacation — a rich and reviving, emotional, and sensual experience. A-