Brideshead Revisited
I finally saw the film version of Brideshead Revisited (I’ve only had the DVD for over 6 months! - I got it for about £3 off Amazon before I even started my current Ben Whishaw binge cos I was curious to see it). I can only vaguely remember the original TV series (tho’ now I really want to rewatch it + re-read the book) - I liked Anthony Andrews and I have a feeling that once Sebastian disappeared from the story I stopped watching.
This is why I get annoyed when ppl slagged off the most recent version for supposedly making the homosexual subtext more explicit. In my opinion Sebastian was written as a gay character + he was played as that in the original TV series. He was in love with Charles (tho’ my personal feeling is it wasn’t consummated as a physical relationship) + I think Charles was infatuated with him in the sense of You are an incredible, interesting person who is showing me an amazing world I’m not a part of but didn’t really have any romantic/sexual feelings for him (I’m referring to the film here, it may be different in the book/TV series). All they did in the film was show Sebastian kiss Charles and Charles didn’t really reciprocate + there was a bit of physical affection between them.
I thought Ben Whishaw was excellent as Sebastian (and I’m not just saying that as a fan of his) + so were Michael Gambon/Emma Thompson as Sebastian’s parents but to be honest I found Hayley Atwell and Matthew Goode a bit flat and I lost interest in the last 3rd of the movie which is supposed to be about the great love affair between Charles and Sebastian’s sister. Let’s be honest if you asked most people what they remember about Brideshead Revisited it would be the relationship between Charles and Sebastian.
I always thought Charles was a bit of a shit. He knows Sebastian loves him and OK, he doesn’t feel the same way but why does he have to go after Sebastian’s sister? Surely he knows that’s just going to fuck him up even more. I honestly think Sebastian could probably have handled Charles rejecting him if he hadn’t gone after his sister. And certainly in the film version I never felt any kind of chemistry or grand passion between Charles and Julia.
I know the film had mixed reviews when it came out which I think is a shame as I thought it was OK. It was always going to be compared to the TV series which is a bit unfair as that had more time to develop the story/characters. I find it interesting that people will be more accepting of multiple versions of the same play but not remakes of a TV series/film - like how many different versions of Hamlet or Macbeth have there been, for instance?
Also I read some old reviews that complained about Ben Whishaw playing Sebastian as too effeminate. Well, I’m going to say I thought it was the right choice. Sebastian is an effeminate homosexual man - he cannot pass as straight even if he wanted to - living in a time when some gay men did get married + live closeted lives. He knows he does not really have that as an option and I would argue that’s part of what makes him unhappy and guilty. He cannot pretend or deny that part of himself because it is so much a part of him. (I don’t know if I’m doing a good job of explaining myself here).
I know a couple of years after the film came out Matthew Goode slagged it off (esp saying he should have been Sebastian - bullshit! He would have ruined the film even more - one of the highlights of the film was BW’s performance as Sebastian) even saying “Yet this, alas, was another film that made Goode’s heart sink when he watched it. ‘I got f--- over,’ he says disarmingly. ‘By the script and by what happened with everything else, because there was just nowhere for me to go as the character. I don’t think it necessarily helped that Ben [Whishaw, who played Sebastian Flyte] went down the path of making it so…’ Goode breaks off - but when I say ‘Dour?’, he does not demur. ‘Still, you know, it’s a film. It’s fine. I can sleep at night now. But I do think that Julian [Jarrold, the director] should have given Sebastian to me.’ (from Telegraph interview) Personally I think it’s a bit shitty of him to blame another actor for his own poor performance + I really didn’t think BW played Sebastian as dour - vulnerable, tortured, unhappy, + many other things but not dour.
So in conclusion the film gave me many things to think about + feelings (mainly over Sebastian) - I’ll definitely get the book + I may even try + get the original TV series if I can find a cheap copy. And I really want to read some sort of meta essay about the evolution of Sebastian Flyte as a queer icon (as in how the character has been reviewed/interpreted over time).
This is why I get annoyed when ppl slagged off the most recent version for supposedly making the homosexual subtext more explicit. In my opinion Sebastian was written as a gay character + he was played as that in the original TV series. He was in love with Charles (tho’ my personal feeling is it wasn’t consummated as a physical relationship) + I think Charles was infatuated with him in the sense of You are an incredible, interesting person who is showing me an amazing world I’m not a part of but didn’t really have any romantic/sexual feelings for him (I’m referring to the film here, it may be different in the book/TV series). All they did in the film was show Sebastian kiss Charles and Charles didn’t really reciprocate + there was a bit of physical affection between them.
I thought Ben Whishaw was excellent as Sebastian (and I’m not just saying that as a fan of his) + so were Michael Gambon/Emma Thompson as Sebastian’s parents but to be honest I found Hayley Atwell and Matthew Goode a bit flat and I lost interest in the last 3rd of the movie which is supposed to be about the great love affair between Charles and Sebastian’s sister. Let’s be honest if you asked most people what they remember about Brideshead Revisited it would be the relationship between Charles and Sebastian.
I always thought Charles was a bit of a shit. He knows Sebastian loves him and OK, he doesn’t feel the same way but why does he have to go after Sebastian’s sister? Surely he knows that’s just going to fuck him up even more. I honestly think Sebastian could probably have handled Charles rejecting him if he hadn’t gone after his sister. And certainly in the film version I never felt any kind of chemistry or grand passion between Charles and Julia.
I know the film had mixed reviews when it came out which I think is a shame as I thought it was OK. It was always going to be compared to the TV series which is a bit unfair as that had more time to develop the story/characters. I find it interesting that people will be more accepting of multiple versions of the same play but not remakes of a TV series/film - like how many different versions of Hamlet or Macbeth have there been, for instance?
Also I read some old reviews that complained about Ben Whishaw playing Sebastian as too effeminate. Well, I’m going to say I thought it was the right choice. Sebastian is an effeminate homosexual man - he cannot pass as straight even if he wanted to - living in a time when some gay men did get married + live closeted lives. He knows he does not really have that as an option and I would argue that’s part of what makes him unhappy and guilty. He cannot pretend or deny that part of himself because it is so much a part of him. (I don’t know if I’m doing a good job of explaining myself here).
I know a couple of years after the film came out Matthew Goode slagged it off (esp saying he should have been Sebastian - bullshit! He would have ruined the film even more - one of the highlights of the film was BW’s performance as Sebastian) even saying “Yet this, alas, was another film that made Goode’s heart sink when he watched it. ‘I got f--- over,’ he says disarmingly. ‘By the script and by what happened with everything else, because there was just nowhere for me to go as the character. I don’t think it necessarily helped that Ben [Whishaw, who played Sebastian Flyte] went down the path of making it so…’ Goode breaks off - but when I say ‘Dour?’, he does not demur. ‘Still, you know, it’s a film. It’s fine. I can sleep at night now. But I do think that Julian [Jarrold, the director] should have given Sebastian to me.’ (from Telegraph interview) Personally I think it’s a bit shitty of him to blame another actor for his own poor performance + I really didn’t think BW played Sebastian as dour - vulnerable, tortured, unhappy, + many other things but not dour.
So in conclusion the film gave me many things to think about + feelings (mainly over Sebastian) - I’ll definitely get the book + I may even try + get the original TV series if I can find a cheap copy. And I really want to read some sort of meta essay about the evolution of Sebastian Flyte as a queer icon (as in how the character has been reviewed/interpreted over time).