Mrs. Dalloway (DVD, 1999)

On a fine summer day in 1923, London socialite, Mrs. Clarissa Dalloway (Vanessa Redgrave), prepares for a party she's hosting that evening. Clarissa goes out to purchase the flowers, while her maid readies the home. While strolling through London, Clarissa's mind reflects back to a time in her childhood in Bourton, a rural English town. She recalls her friend Sally (Lena Headey) & the young man who wanted to marry her, Peter Walsh (Alan Cox). Clarissa decided to marry the more dependable Richard Dalloway (John Standing), instead.

Later that same day, Peter Walsh (Michael Kitchen) returns from India & decides to call upohn Clarissa at her home. As Clarissa & Peter reminisce about the times they spent together in Bourton, they realize how much they still feel for each other.

As her party turns out, Clarissa becomes uncannily aware of a young Shell-shocked, WWI veteran, who she never has the occasion to meet: Septimus Warren Smith (Rupert Graves). To Mrs. Dalloway's surprise, Smith's tragic fate resonates an undeniable truth deep inside of her.

Redgrave delivers such a convincing performance that she brings the greatest 20th century British novelist, Virginia Woolf's, protagonist to life, at long last. Eileen Atkins did such a splendid job writing the screenplay that she won the 1999 Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Screenplay.

Aside: in 2002, Meryl Streep played a thinly veiled characterization of a contemporary Clarissa Dalloway, in "The Hours." Nominated for an Oscar for her performance, Nicole Kidman won it for her performance of the author, Virginia Woolf, in the same film.

Obviously, with two major Oscar-winning women actor's playing the role of Woolf's Dalloway, that character is proving to be one that resonates with modern audiences. Redgrave's Dalloway is the one that I believe Woolf intended to create. Highest recommendations!~