Brideheads Revisited, the movie

Since I loved the 1981 mini-series Brideheads Revisited based on Evelyn Waugh's novel, I was reluctant to see the 2008 version. And, as to be expected, I was disappointed by the movie which runs at 2 hours and 14 minutes, compared to the 8ish hour mini-series. The barely scratches of the surface of the complex and wonderful characters rife in Waugh's book. What happened to the lovable Sebastian? The movie offers a very superficial version of his character-- Maybe I am disappointed because I miss the wonderful Anthony Andrews Sebastian. (On a side note -- there is only a passing glance of Aloysius, Sebastian's stuffed bear) I liked Matthew Goode who plays as Charles Ryder, and I liked the Julia, Hayley Atwell. But because the movie was trying to do so much so quickly, none of the actors had a chance to delve into their characters. The filmmakers decided to amp up the gay and the catholic in the movie. Make Sebastian more flamboyant and overt in his love for Charles --not too mention the actor is so fey, thin and wispy that he seems like he is going to float away. They also oversimplified the Catholic conflicts throughout the movie, so the movie-goer never really gets why the Flytes are so tortured. Finally, the great Emma Thompson seemed wasted in this movie. She hit one note, dour Catholic mama.

So instead of watching this movie and if you happen to have 8 hours of time on your hands for great TV watching -- watch the 1981 mini-series which I re-watched last summer -- I was entranced all over again. But pass on the the latest movie version.

Check out my list of great min-series too!

Brideshead Revisited, Update

So I finished it. All 11 hours of the original miniseries, Brideshead Revisited, late last night, and it kept getting sadder and sadder. I don’t remember it being so sad. At the end we are left with people with pretty desolate lives, Julia, Charles, and Cordelia. And what happens to Sebastian and his “dipsomania” as his alcoholism is referred to, is just horrible. I think this profile of the English aristocracy before WWII, makes them all seem so incapable of dealing with their problems and so eager to suppress their emotions. The view of Catholicism, I can’t quite wrap my brain around it, but it comes off as another character in the movie – an authoritarian mother with no mercy for the wavering. Again, as I have said in earlier blog entries, watching “old” movies made even in 1979, seem like from a different time all together. Scenes are drawn out, people are shown walking from one location to another, and conversations last more than 30 seconds. This is a miniseries that really does justice to Waugh’s book of the same name, and I can’t imagine how the new movie, also of the same name, can possibly portray this expansive novel in 2 hours. I am going to see it surely. Maybe it will even come to a location near me, doubtful, but there are always DVDs.

Brideshead Revisited

I have been watching a few series lately. I just finished a BBC series called Lilies about three working class sisters from Liverpool. It tells about their exploits right after WWI. It's pretty good and I especially enjoyed the accents and their passionate-unrestrained ways. Taking place at about the same time, but about a completely different English class, Brideshead Revisted tells about Charles Ryder who becomes infatuated by the upper crust family who inhabit Brideshead Estate. I loved this series many years ago over 25 years ago (yikes, I must be getting old) and thought, with the new movie of the same name coming out, I had better see it again. I just started it -- it's a long one, 11 hours! So I will be working on this one for a while.
I will report after finishing it!