The melancholy drama “The Last September” is set in an Irish estate in 1920.

It focuses on a family, the Naylors, who are members of a class of Anglo-Irish aristocrats known as the Ascendancy, whose wealthy, graceful, and fundamentally feudal way of life is coming to an end, trying to survive the emerging political trouble between England and the Irish Republican Army.

The main focus is on a young woman named Lois (Keeley Hawes) and a love triangle between her and her childhood friend Peter (Gary Lydon), and a dashing young Captain of the British army, Gerald (David Tennant). Lois wishes for simpler times. Lois’ family plays around her confusion, all with advice and reflections of her love affairs.

Her admirable vampish aunt Lady Naylor (Maggie Smith), with whom everyone else in the film seems to be in love with, encourages her romances and her out going nature, while Lady Myra , Lois’ godmother of sorts and wife of her Uncle Richard, take every chance to gossip and squelch Lois’ relationships. The background is a search for Peter and his fellow saboteurs by the British black and tans. Peter’s “gang” is gaining a notorious reputation for increasingly dastardly acts to affront the black and tans.

The mood of this film is fairly dark. The Cinematography of the film reflects the murkiness of the situation by using many out of focus shots and constantly shooting angles through panes of warped or coloured glass.

When there is something meant to stand out or to focus attentions, the scene is often introduced with a shot through Lois’ spyglass. The cinematography is also often shot from an animistic perspective from the point of view the swing hanging from the tree, the spinning record player or glass wind chimes. It’s a pretty neat effect and for a picture like this, it’s a great way to relieve the tension in the story. The score of the film is mixed between an almost haunting theme stemming from the wind chimes and popular music of the early twenties.

Deborah Warner is one of London’s theatre directors. This is her first film, based on a novel by Elizabeth Bowen, scripted by award-winning Irish writer, John Banville. Her film is a beautiful work and is well crafted though the story at times is difficult to follow this seems intentional. At some points it is strange as to how the events are laid out. The pace of the film is slow and the action is muddled, but the over-all feeling is a reflection of Lois and her confusion. The film is comparable to watching a master painter, where as the film moves it is confused and disorienting, but as everything falls into place the image begins to emerge clearer and clearer.