Brideshead Revisited (2008) Genre: Historical Romantic Drama Director: Julian Jarrold Starring: Matthew Goode, Ben Whishaw, Hayley Attwell, Emma Thompson, Michael Gambon Time: 133 minutes Brideshead Revisited is a nicely filmed story of England and its privileged class between the two world wars. Charles Rider (Matthew Goode), a commoner, goes to Oxford University to read history, while he really prefers to be an artist. Yet we don’t see any evidence of his art or paintings. We do see him playing chess with his father, Edward (Patrick Malahide) in a dark room. This sets a dark tone very early in the film. Edward treats his son dismissively, without any sign of affection. Charles arrives at Oxford and, in spite of warnings by his cousin, connects with Sebastian Flyte (Ben Whishaw), a gay gadabout there for the social benefits. The two become friends and Charles is enticed to visit Sebastian's family home, Brideshead, a majestic home full of art that captured his interest when Sebastian reluctantly shows him on a visit to see his grandmother. The Grandmother fades away, so it appears she was only a foil to introduce Charles to Brideshead. There is a suggestion of homosexuality between Sebastian and Charles, but never any evidence. Sebastian and his twenty-year-old sister, Julia (Hayley Atwell) seem to be more than just siblings. Again, nothing positively proves it. The three travel to Italy to see Sebastian’s father (Michael Gambon), and his mistress, Cara (Greta Scacchi). Charles expresses interest in Julia, and attempts to seduce her, in the view of Sebastian. Julia runs away and the incident is over. Nothing recurs between them, as she is a Catholic and Charles a disenfranchised Anglican. Besides, she is gentry and he is considered as a Paddington painter by Julia's mother, Lady Marchmain (Emma Thompson). But the incident causes Sebastian to withdraw from Charles. Later Julia has a coming-out party where her engagement is announced. Sebastian causes a drunken disturbance, as is his way, and Charles is asked to leave as he funded Sebastian's afternoon at the pub, in defiance of the family, particularly the matron, Lady Marchmain. The film jumps forward 4 years, Charles has his first art show, and his paintings appear uninspired, to anyone but his future wife, Celia (Anna Madeley), a rich patron of the arts. While a minor role, she seems more appealing than Julia, in spite of her pretentiousness. Perhaps another talented but miscast actress. Was this bland art a reflection of Charles lost love (the undefined infatuation), or just a reflection of the film production’s inability to procure quality art? Charles returns home to find Lady Marchmain being entertained by his father in their small parlour. She uses his loyalty as a friend to Sebastian to coerce Charles to travel to Morocco to bring him back from a self -imposed exile of debauchery. Charles finds his place and Sebastian's boyfriend waiting for him to return from a hospital. Sebastian is too weak to travel, so Charles returns alone. Lady Marchmain dies and Charles continues on with his life. Charles marries Celia and travels to Africa to paint. On his return, the paintings are on display in the cruise ship. Celia encourages him to be sociable to the potential buyers, although the art seems just as uninspired. Does a painting of some bamboo or other green foliage constitute art? But what do we know of art? Julia shows up and Charles runs after her, (a reflection of the Italy chase scene.) They only stop long enough in her room to throw off their clothes and jump into bed. Both pledge to disengage from their spouses once back in England, and the rest shall remain for those who plan to view this 133 minute movie. All that will be said is the ending may surprise the audience, unless they read the book, or watched the 1981 TV mini-series (11 episodes, 659 minutes) that more fully represents the novel. The things to appreciate in this movie are the beautiful costumes and the lovely cinematography, complimented by the music of Adrian Johnston. There are a few good performances, but not enough to make this a “must-see” film. I never read the novel, nor saw the TV adaptation, so I was left feeling like significant parts of the story were missing. It was hard to tell whether the theme is religion vs., sin, or privilege vs. poverty. Gay vs., straight was glanced over; they may have been better to leave that theme out. And then they threw in the question of whether Charles was after Julia, or just after getting access to the Brideshead estate and its exceptional collection of art. And what of Julia’s husband, a supposed rich commoner who claimed her family was mortgaged to the hilt? Did he marry her just for the contacts in her social circle? The characters seemed interesting, but the actors never seemed able to make them real. It felt like most of the main characters were miscast, and the direction seemed more like the rushed filming of a TV series. Originally, David Yates was to direct Paul Bettany, Jude Law and Jennifer Connelly in this film. That may have resulted in a better movie. If you are a fan of historical British drama, see this film. If not, there are many other suitable films being screened to satisfy your entertainment needs. When I saw it, the audience was senior citizens, mostly female. Perhaps they had read the book and knew the story. They seemed to enjoy it. I didn't consider it worth the $12.50 admission, but perhaps as a two-dollar rental it would be suitable for half an evening of home entertainment on a long winter night. Rated PG-13 with some sexual content (but not enough to make for a real passionate love scene.) |