Bethanne Patrick

The Movie I'll Stand in Line to See...
July 22, 2008

...but somehow, I doubt there will be a line for the new "Brideshead Revisited" movie. Like many other bookish types, I was powerless to stop myself from swooning over Jeremy Irons and Anthony Andrews in the 1980s television adaptation of Brideshead Revisited. Oxford! A teddy bear named Aloysius! Champers! (My adolescent Anglophilia was much tamed by a subsequent summer spent at that university, choking down "spag Bol" for dinner and shivering in my unfortunate modern dormitory room.) 

I even had the rare and possibly unenvied opportunity to watch the mini-series three times on three different continents: first, at home in New York State; second, in Perth, Australia; and finally, in England (whilst shivering). 

However, it's got to be 20 years since I saw John Mortimer's adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's novel, and while watching clips on YouTube isn't a substitute for watching the entire thing, I was surprised that it's not horribly dated. Yes, there's an overall louche, 80s, gleam to the whole thing, but understated acting saves scenes that would otherwise descend straight into soap opera. 

In any case, on Friday or Saturday this week you'll find me waiting in line so I can find out what Julian Jarrold had to cut in order to keep his vision of the book both true, and down to two hours. Who's in?

Posted by Bethanne Patrick on July 22, 2008 | Comments (4)