Like many a myth or fairy tale, "Ladies in Lavender" begins with the discovery of a beautiful young man washed ashore from a shipwreck. But he is no heroic Odysseus, and his discoverers neither princesses nor goddesses.

	Tom Collins, Roadside Attractions Daniel Bruhl plays Andrea, a Polish virtuoso violinist who is shipwrecked in "Ladies in Lavender." Click photo for larger image. "Ladies in Lavender" Rating: PG-13 for mildly sensual themes Starring: Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Daniel Bruhl, David Warner Director: Charles Dance "Ladies in Lavender" Web site

They are elderly sisters Ursula (Judi Dench) and Janet (Maggie Smith), and their shore is Cornish rather than Greek. For them and their isolated fishing village, the sudden appearance of a half-dead castaway -- spat from Cornwall's angry sea -- is the major event of 1936. And of their hitherto well-ordered late lives.

First, they must nurse him back to consciousness and health, with the aid of Dr. Mead (David Warner). Next, they must discover a way to communicate with their recuperating patient, who turns out to be a Polish refugee named Andrea (Daniel Bruhl).

More extraordinary is the discovery that he is a virtuoso violinist.

More problematic is the sisters' discovery of powerful emotions -- long dormant in Janet, never anything but dormant in Ursula. You can't resist this gifted, guileless boy-man. Even crusty old Dorcas (Miriam Margolyes), the sisters' no-nonsense housekeeper, comes around to him. The village pub patrons are charmed by the magic of his violin. So is Olga (Natascha McElhone), a German artist visiting for the summer.

But while Andrea fiddles, Romeo burns -- in the form of Dr. Mead. He is much smitten but rebuffed by Olga, and ominously jealous of Andrea.

Meanwhile, jealousy is too mild a word for the sisters' attitude toward Olga. Terror is more like it -- a dreadful, possessive fear of losing him to a young foreign female. It's bad enough for Janet, whose affection for Andrea is strongly maternal. It's far worse -- potentially devastating -- for Ursula, who has fallen hopelessly, impossibly in love.

Based on a short story by William J. Locke, this could be the sentimental stuff of soap opera were it not for the presence of two of the greatest actresses of our time. Their beauty and the seamless symbiotic beauty of their performances are enhanced, not diminished, by the color gray.

	Tom Collins, Roadside Attractions Maggie Smith, left, and Judie Dench play elderly sisters who are captivated when a castaway washes up on their Cornwall beach. Click photo for larger image.

We think of Maggie Smith -- at least, I do -- as the "star" of any film she graces, but it is Dench who owns the more important of these two "Ladies'" roles. Smith's wonderfully restrained portrayal (with her Bea Arthur-like voice!) is all the more impressively self-effacing for being in support -- "Maude" but never maudlin. Dench, in turn, is all the more amazing for her riveting execution of the complex stellar part.

There ain't nothing like these dames, who get marvelous help from Bruhl and Warner, plus Margolyes' fine comic relief. Under Charles Dance's subtle direction, the minor characters come alive in their Cornwall seaside locations, full of rocks as well as Stones' ideas of getting not what you want but what you need.