Category: Films

England in the Movies, continued…

From Victoria…

In my last list were some great films. In this list, some of them were television series and all come from classic English novels.  Let me warn that I am not including any of the Jane Austen adaptations, because I intend to write about them in another post. Later.

Thomas Hardy was a great Victorian novelist whose long, dark novels can be the bane of English literature students. But he is also a brilliant prose artist, and he wrote many passages in Tess of the D’Urbervilles (1891) which are absolutely poetic. My favorite film version is Tess by director Roman Polanski (1980) which captures the poetic quality of the countryside and in the personality of Tess, played by Nastassia Kinski.  Subsequent versions are not as well done, in my opinion.

George Elliot (aka Mary Ann Evans 1819-1880) wrote several novels I passed up for many years because I had to read Silas Marner in 7th grade. I hated it.  But when I finally discovered her Middlemarch (1871), I loved the book. The BBC version screenplay was written by Andrew Davies, one of Britain’s premier adapters of great novels for the screen.  I saw it first on Masterpiece Theatre in 1994, starring Juliet Aubrey and Rufus Sewell.

If you want to try Silas Marner or Mill on the Floss or other Eliot stories, you might be interested in this collection from BBC Video. Personally, I like Middlemarch the best by far.

My favorite of the celebrated films of Ismail Merchant and James Ivory is Room With a View (1985), from the novel of the same name written by E. M. Forster which appeared in 1908. Starring Maggie Smith and Helena Bonham Carter, the film is lyrical and compelling, both at the same time.  The trio of Merchant as producer and Ivory as director with Ruth Prawer Jhabvala as screen writer is also responsible for two more favorites of mine: Howard’s End (1992), also based on a Forster novel, and Remains of the Day (1993), based on a novel by Kazuo Ishiguro.

Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray has been filmed or on television in at least six versions.  I can’t pretend to have seen all of them, but the last several I have watched and my choice among them is the miniseries from the BBC from 1998 starring Natasha Little as Becky Sharp, one of literature’s most fascinating non-heroines. Thackeray called Vanity Fair a novel without a hero and so it is. The screenplay for the 1998 version was written by Andrew Davies and the extended length allows the whole story to unfold. See an excerpt here. The music is not from the film but the thought is correct!

Cold Comfort Farm is humourous novel by Stella Gibbons, published in 1932 which parodies many novels comparing urban and rural life. The 1995 film starred Kate Beckinsale as Flora, Eileen Atkins as Judith Starkadder, and Rufus Sewell as Seth.  It is very funny and worth watching several times.

If you think I am obsessed with the films of Rufus Sewell in these two movie posts, just wait until I do a post just about him. Sigh. 

Can’t wait, can you?

England in the Movies

From Victoria…

In writing about the recent films The Young Victoria (see blogpost of April 28) and Bright Star (blog post of March 27), I thought about all the excellent older films about English history and literature I remember from years past.


Two of my favorites were just a couple of years ago.

The Duchess (2008) was based on Amanda Foreman’s biography of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, (1756-1806) starring Keira Knightley, Ralph Fiennes and many other outstanding actors. See a trailer here.

In my opinion, it was a well-done film, basically accurate, though the events of the screenplay seemed to condense the period of time covered. Ms. Foreman is on record as approving of the film.

Amazing Grace (2007) stars Ioan Gruffudd as William Wilberforce, MP, campaigning for the end of the international slave trade in the early 19th century. Also starring Romola Garai, Albert Finney, Michael Gambon, Rufus Sewell, Ciaran Hinds, Sylvestra Le Touzel and many other outstanding British actors. Most observers agreed it was an accurate portrayal of the period, the controversy and Wilberforce’s triumph.  See more information and a trailer here.

Who can resist the battles of Henry II and his Queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, in The Lion in Winter (1968) starring Peter O’Toole and Katherine Hepburn. The screenplay was adapted from his stageplay (1966) by James Goldman. Set in AD 1183, the story gives the stars some outstanding opportunities to spar with one another over the succession after Henry’s death. Here is a trailer. 

Henry II was played by Peter O’Toole a little earlier in the 1964 film Becket. Based on a play by Jean Anouih, the story of Becket’s martyrdom is brilliantly done. Richard Burton stars as Thomas Becket, one of his finer performances in a career that often served from the heights to the depths and back again. Becket garnered a raft of awards and nominations.


A Man for All Seasons came out 1966 starring Paul Scofield as Sir Thomas More.  It originated with the play by Robert Bolt about the controversy over ending Henry VIII’s first marriage.  Orson Welles appear as Cardinal Wolsey and Leo McKern as Thomas Cromwell as they all argue over Henry’s determination to marry Anne Boleyn in the 16th century.

Both of the following links to trailers may require you to watch an ad before the REAL trailer. Here I  and/or here II.  I despise the ads on these trailers — and come to think of it, on some DVDs where you can’t duck them by any means.  Grrrrrrr.  So much for my ranting.

For my money, Robert Shaw plays a great Henry VIII, far better than Jonathan Rhys-Meyers in the currently running The Tudors on Showtime — who is pretty good, just not up to Shaw. Paul Scofield won a Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Sir Thomas;  Wendy Hiller portrayed his long-suffering wife.

And now for something entirely different…
Many of us have a long-lasting fascination with the members of the Bloomsbury Group — their Bohemian lifestyles, their experimentation in the arts and in their personal lives and sexual preferences. The story of Dora Carrington, rather a peripheral member of the group, is told in Carrington (1995). The film stars Emma Thompson as Dora Carrington, Jonathan Pryce as Lytton Strachey, part of the Bloomsbury group in the time of WWI. Many more favorites appear and I believe the film was shot at some of the Bloomsbury Group’s favorite haunts. A recent review includes link to the trailer.

I’ll stop for now, but whenever I make a list of favorite films, more come to mind — for another day. Please let us know what your favorite British films are, meaning those about Britain, not necessarily always made in Britain.

Do You Know About Foyle's War?

Oh, boy. This one’s a winner. Not Regency, not Victorian, but a series that will quietly grab you and have you hooked by the end of the first episode.

I’d written this post in draft weeks ago and only found out yesterday from Jo Manning that the new episodes were being aired on PBS Mystery starting last night. Sorry, sorry, sorry for missing the boat on this, but there’s no time like the present to let you know about Foyle’s War if you aren’t familiar with it. And if you are, there’s no time like the present to tell you that next two new episodes in the series will air on Sunday, May 9 (Killing Time) and Sunday, May 16 (The Hide).

In early World War II Britain, as British soldiers and pilots valiantly resist the German forces on land and in the air, their kinsmen at home face head-on the effects of the awful war that has engulfed their nation. Food rationing, black-outs, German bombing raids, all these and more are daily reminders that no one is to be spared.

For Detective Chief Superintendent Christopher Foyle of the Hastings police department, a man who served his country in World War I and then rose through the ranks of the police force to his current position, sitting on the sidelines during this war is frustrating. Requesting more direct involvement but continually rebuffed by his superior officer, DCS Foyle is further frustrated by a shortage of manpower that impedes his powers of policing.

As Foyle quickly learns, however, the role he plays is in no way a small one, for the war has certainly not brought a cessation of crime. If anything, it has intensified the heinous nature of domestic crime when carried out against innocent people already suffering, sacrificing, and struggling to persevere in such a brutal time.

Each episode of Foyle’s War, created by Anthony Horowitz (Midsomer Murders), blends real-life war stories with tales of treachery and suspense. Whether investigating sabotage, looting, stolen food or fuel supplies, police brutality of conscientious objectors, treason, or murder, Foyle and his colleagues must wage their own personal war amidst the tumult of a larger one. But more than a period whodunnit, Foyle’s War is redolent with rich human drama subtly revealed through the lives of these main characters who make up the heart of the series. Steadfast and loyal to each other, they strive to uphold the values for which they and their countrymen – their loved ones – are fighting and dying.
 

Michael Kitchen, as Foyle, doesn’t say much and prefers fly fishing to socializing, but Oh My is he clever. The human side of the war is emphasized through continuing secondary plot lines that involve the ongoing love life of Foyle’s female driver, Samantha. She even has an ongoing fling with Foyle’s son, an ace fighter pilot. Foyle’s second in command, Sergeant Milner is a wounded vet who lost a leg in the war – a fact his wife is unable to deal with.

Foyle’s War was created in 2001 by author Anthony Horowitz and commissioned by ITV1 to fill the void following the end of long-running detective series Inspector Morse. Set in Hastings, it ran to 19 episodes and featured Foyle’s attempts to catch criminals taking advantage of wartime confusion. Now, three more episodes have been made (wooo hooo!), with Michael Kitchen reprising his role and Foyle’s peacetime exploits are likely to feature his female driver, Sam, more prominently. Foyle’s War will return to ITV1 with a “new style series” set in June 1945, after VE Day signalled the end of the conflict in Europe, but with the war against Japan in the Far East not yet concluded.

“Like everyone else, detective chief superintendent Christopher Foyle needs to feel his way in this new world. Keen to retire, but bound to his old job by the shortage of senior men, Foyle is thrust into the dangerous worlds of international conspiracy and execution, military racism and national betrayal,” ITV said.

The series producer, Jill Green, added: “This fascinating period post-VE day has rarely been featured on TV and once more Foyle’s War will be unearthing true stories that reflect tougher, moodier times.”

The Young Victoria

Victoria H. (as opposed to Victoria R) loved this film when she saw it in London in May 2009. And she will buy a copy as soon as it comes out on DVD. It’s still in Kristine’s Blockbuster queue.

We’d love to know what you think of it, so if you’ve already seen it, do tell us all. Wasn’t Emily Blunt wonderful? She even looked the part.

Victoria H. has this warning.  Do not expect the film to be entirely historically accurate. They played a little fast and loose with a couple of aspects.  For the benefit of the drama, of course.

 For example, Prime Minister Lord Melbourne was almost 60 when Victoria came to the throne. He might have had a long history of being a ladies’ man (and he had been married to Lady Caroline Lamb, remember), but  he was not the studly figure that Paul Bettany presented in the film, see left. Not that anyone could complain about Paul’s looks.  And Prince Albert did not take a bullet for his bride — he was as uninjured in the attack as she was.

Kristine tells an amusing bon mot regarding Patty Suchy of Novel Explorations . . One year we went to England to do a Queen Victoria tour and arrived a day or so early. The movie Mrs. Brown had just come out and we both wanted to see it, so we went to a cinema in Baker Street, where after buying our tickets we were presented with a floor plan and asked to reserve our seats. And what seats they were – plush red velvet, deep and supremely comfortable. Well, it also happened to have been the day we landed in Merry Old. And you know what air travel does to one. So, here we settled into our seats, the picture started and sometime later I turned to Patty in order to impart some witty aside or other, only to find her fast asleep! She missed the entire film. However, Patty embodies true friendship and after she’d awoken, she said, “Well, as long as you enjoyed it.”  Have you ever!?

Death at a Funeral: The Original

The new Chris Rock remake of Death at a Funeral was released this week. It changes the British original to the U.S. with a mostly African-American cast. I’m sure it will be hilarious.

But if you haven’t seen the original Death at a Funeral, out just three years ago in 2007, be sure to get a copy from Netflix or rent one or from cable on-demand. It is so funny you will need to watch it several times to get all the lines.


I always caution my friends to see it on DVD and turn on the English subtitles just so you don’t miss the many funny asides. I have seen it at least four times and I got a new angle every time.

The story mixes mistaken identities, sibling rivalry (a wannabe writer vs. his best-selling brother), accidental drug problems, and the deepest of family secrets. 

Don’t miss it!!!