Finally saw HBO's Parade's End starring Benedict Cumberbatch - NO SPOILERS
I watched all 5 episodes of the Tom Stoppard adaptation of Ford Maddox Ford's novel(s).
Shockingly, I LOVED it!
Don't get me wrong. I'm not a complete philistine. I CAN watch film versions of LITERARY QUALITY and actually enjoy myself. But when a project gets hyped to death my knee jerk reaction is to say NO and block it out.
Plus I don't have cable. Or a TV (That's right, I'm a Zero TV household - take THAT Nielsen ratings! Are you shaking in your boots network broadcasters/cable channels?)
But Barnes and Noble (because I defy you to find an actual brick and mortar store devoted SOLELY to music or DVDs anymore) had it on sale for 20% off. Add in the extra 10% off I get as a Barnes and Noble member and I cut 30% OFF. Score!
Ahem.
Anyway, the first time I put it on, that first episode bored me so much I yanked the DVD right back out of my laptop again. I decided to try again on Sunday night and happily I was able to pay attention.
It was lovely. I can finally see why it DID get so much hype. To sum it up, if someone had taken Gone With the Wind, moved it to WWI era England, and focused on an Ashley who was married to Scarlett but in love with Melanie this would be the result. The trenches substitute for the burning of Atlanta. There are parts that drag and the moral ambiguity is maddening at times. But the ultimate resolution is as satisfying as the moment Scarlett stands in a barren field and swears "As God is my witness, I'll never be hungry again" and redeems a lot of the slower moments and baffling indecisiveness of the main character.
The story centers on a WWI era English nobleman Christopher Tientjens and his bad marriage to a femme fatale who may or may not be carrying his baby. Although he knows he's possibly being cuckolded, Tientjens marries her anyway because he has too much honor to leave her in the lurch when he did after all sleep with her. She repays him years later by running off with yet another man whom SHE then dumps in order to go back to her husband. Meanwhile, Christopher has met a young woman, Valentine, who has all the integrity and authentic passion his wife lacks and the question becomes, does he throw away the sense of duty that has kept him from repaying his faithless wife in kind and begin an affair with Valentine or does he hold onto his honor?
Although we DO get an answer, the process of getting there is as fraught, fractured, and at times glacially paced as WWI itself with Christopher's mental health, physical health and self-respect all balancing on an ever fraying tight rope along the way.
There are touches of the visual lushness of the film version of Atonement and the moral dilemma of Anna Karenina. You'll also think of the Forsythe Saga. For some reason I still can’t identify, It also made me think a bit of Steinbeck's East of Eden.
If you have a taste for great literature, a love of Benedict Cumberbatch, or just need something visually or thematically substantive to sink your teeth into, Parade's End is for you. Just make sure you’ve got the time to watch it all the way through and give it your undivided attention or you’ll miss out on the emotional riches at the end.
Shockingly, I LOVED it!
Don't get me wrong. I'm not a complete philistine. I CAN watch film versions of LITERARY QUALITY and actually enjoy myself. But when a project gets hyped to death my knee jerk reaction is to say NO and block it out.
Plus I don't have cable. Or a TV (That's right, I'm a Zero TV household - take THAT Nielsen ratings! Are you shaking in your boots network broadcasters/cable channels?)
But Barnes and Noble (because I defy you to find an actual brick and mortar store devoted SOLELY to music or DVDs anymore) had it on sale for 20% off. Add in the extra 10% off I get as a Barnes and Noble member and I cut 30% OFF. Score!
Ahem.
Anyway, the first time I put it on, that first episode bored me so much I yanked the DVD right back out of my laptop again. I decided to try again on Sunday night and happily I was able to pay attention.
It was lovely. I can finally see why it DID get so much hype. To sum it up, if someone had taken Gone With the Wind, moved it to WWI era England, and focused on an Ashley who was married to Scarlett but in love with Melanie this would be the result. The trenches substitute for the burning of Atlanta. There are parts that drag and the moral ambiguity is maddening at times. But the ultimate resolution is as satisfying as the moment Scarlett stands in a barren field and swears "As God is my witness, I'll never be hungry again" and redeems a lot of the slower moments and baffling indecisiveness of the main character.
The story centers on a WWI era English nobleman Christopher Tientjens and his bad marriage to a femme fatale who may or may not be carrying his baby. Although he knows he's possibly being cuckolded, Tientjens marries her anyway because he has too much honor to leave her in the lurch when he did after all sleep with her. She repays him years later by running off with yet another man whom SHE then dumps in order to go back to her husband. Meanwhile, Christopher has met a young woman, Valentine, who has all the integrity and authentic passion his wife lacks and the question becomes, does he throw away the sense of duty that has kept him from repaying his faithless wife in kind and begin an affair with Valentine or does he hold onto his honor?
Although we DO get an answer, the process of getting there is as fraught, fractured, and at times glacially paced as WWI itself with Christopher's mental health, physical health and self-respect all balancing on an ever fraying tight rope along the way.
There are touches of the visual lushness of the film version of Atonement and the moral dilemma of Anna Karenina. You'll also think of the Forsythe Saga. For some reason I still can’t identify, It also made me think a bit of Steinbeck's East of Eden.
If you have a taste for great literature, a love of Benedict Cumberbatch, or just need something visually or thematically substantive to sink your teeth into, Parade's End is for you. Just make sure you’ve got the time to watch it all the way through and give it your undivided attention or you’ll miss out on the emotional riches at the end.