‘Tea with the Dames’ or ‘Nothing Like a Dame’ as its international title, is a documentary following Dames Joan Plowright, Eileen Atkins, Maggie Smith and Judi Dench as they discuss and reminisce over their past achievements, struggles and beginnings of their acting careers which all initially started in theatre.
In my experience, most documentaries have a narrator. However, Tea with the Dames decides to let the Dames do the talking. With their friendship spanning over half a decade, the talented ladies are shown completely candid, sometimes even heckling the director and scolding the occasional cameraman. Despite all this, the Dames are quite relaxed on camera. The film seemed very personal to the point I felt like I was at the table with the ladies whilst listening to their stories. Although Tea with the Dames is a documentary, the film is quite funny with the Dames’ strong, sassy and feisty personalities shining through.
After watching Tea with the Dames, I have so much more respect for these women. I enjoyed seeing their strengths and talents whilst listening to their experiences and words of wisdom. If you are a fan of any of these ladies, I strongly suggest seeing this documentary as not only is it interesting, but the Dames are hilariously wonderful, real and hold nothing back.
I really enjoyed this. It’s was really interesting to see a very candid and personal side to these lovely dames.