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United Kingdom 2008
Directed by
Julian Jarrold
135 minutes
Rated PG

Reviewed by
Sharon Hurst
3.5 stars

Brideshead Revisited

Synopsis: Charles Ryder (Matthew Goode) is a student at Oxford in 1925. Despite coming from a humble middle-class background he is soon befriended by wealthy, flamboyant Sebastian Flyte (Ben Whishaw), who moves in a homosexual group and who comes from a privileged Catholic family. Sebastian takes Charles back to his opulent ancestral home “Brideshead”, where Charles is soon seduced into the life of glamour. He is also strongly attracted to Sebastian’s sister Julia (Hayley Atwell), but soon finds that the overbearing woman of the house, Lady Marchmain (Emma Thompson), with her oppressively devout Catholic faith, is a force to be reckoned with.

Here billed as a story of forbidden love and loss, Brideshead Revisited is best-known as the hugely popular TV series from the early 1980s. With a top drawer cast that included Laurence Olivier, Claire Bloom, John Gielgud and then-newcomer Jeremy Irons as Charles Ryder and faithfully reproducing Evelyn Waugh’s novel of the same name, that version is firmly entrenched in legions of hearts and minds. Despite the “classic” status of the earlier version, judging this new adaptation upon its own merits, I found it surprisingly engaging, well acted and visually beautiful although feeling very long.

Waugh, himself a fervent Catholic, wrote about a stratum of people with wealth and entrenched beliefs. Lady Marchmain is so wedded to her faith that she perceives her mission in life is to protect all those she loves from danger to their immortal souls. The theme of Catholic guilt runs throughout this film, affecting all the characters, and even Charles, a professed atheist, opens and closes his voice-over speaking of guilt as the only emotion that remains from all those emotions he has pirated from this rarefied milieu.

Set during the heyday of the English “Catholic aristocracy” between the two World Wars, the story spans three decades and several locations (England, Morocco and Italy). The film opens in 1945 when Charles is a soldier, stationed at the now-requisitioned Brideshead. From there it flashes back to when Charles, a notable artist, runs into Julia Mottram (nee Flyte) on an Atlantic crossing. Finally the main chapter takes off at the point where Charles, in his late teens, leaves his taciturn father to go to Oxford, discovering all the youthful and somewhat subversive joy of being drawn into Sebastian’s hedonistic lifestyle.

Needless to say, the locations are quite stunning. Castle Howard, built in the late 17th century and also the location used in the television series, is an overwhelmingly grand Brideshead, while the scenes shot on location in Oxford evoke that frightfully British, almost idyllic life of hallowed halls, boating and drinking. The scenes in Venice are filled with atmosphere, and, of course, evoke high romance, especially in the scenes where Charles realises his attraction for Julia, and Sebastian senses his first betrayal.

The acting is very strong, with the three leads really making us feel the sense of camaraderie and ultimately of conflict between the siblings and their mutual friend. Goode successfully carries a lot of weight on his acting shoulders, as he is in nearly every scene, and we really feel for his dilemma of being caught between his attraction to Sebastian and to Julia, all of which were repressed in that era. Whishaw shines as the troubled Sebastian, and his downward spiral after he leaves for Marrakesh is well played out. Atwell, so lovely in shows here the depth of her talent. But it is the excellent Emma Thompson who really excels as the fearsome Marchmain matriarch. Supporting in small roles are Michael Gambon as Lord Marchmain, and Greta Scacchi as his mistress, both living in Venice, and not integrated as well into the plot as I would have liked. Perhaps trying to compress so much into one film became a little too challenging (the television series ran for 11 one hour episodes!).

Whilst unlikely to woo away devotees of the original television series, this big screen rendition is a finely executed, worthy and enjoyable addition to the formidable catalogue of British period films.

 

 

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