Long Live the Lady!

An old and mysterious lady lives in a crumbling mansion. As the house is being turned into a hotel, six trainee waiters are brought there and given the job of preparing a special meal for her. None of them has seen the woman for more than an instant. As they learn the work they mature both in the trade and in life, but whether the lady really exists stays uncertain to the end. The film holds serving and working for an unseen authority in the same scene. What the young people really learn while working is not cooking but learning not to ask whom they are working for. The account builds this not as an accusation but as a calm observation. Ermanno Olmi’s hundred and two minute Italian film was completed in 1987.