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BRIDESHEAD REVISITED

Starring: Matthew Goode, Ben Whishaw, and Hayley Atwell

Directed By: Julian Jarrold

PG-13 for brief nudity and sexual content

By John Delia

Brideshead Revisited is long, involving with a lot of unsatisfying dialogue, but the cinematography’s amazing. Not a Howard’s End or even an Atonement, this movie period piece from a book written by Evelyn Waugh doesn’t satisfy. For those that like movies that will draw them away to another time and continent and provide some distraction from the humdrum, Brideshead Revisited may be your cup of English tea.

The film centers on Charles Ryder (Goode) who buddies up with a schoolmate Sebastian Flyte (Whishaw) and subsequently gets invited to his home called Brideshead. While at the huge mansion he meets his sister Julia and becomes infatuated with her. Sebastian’s love starts to grow for Charles and the two seem to be on their way to becoming a couple. But Charles’s love is more of a strong bond of friendship for Sebastian and he starts to pull away from Sebastian’s affections. When Sebastian sees Charles make a play for Julia at an affair, their friendship and the Flyte family’s takes a turn for the worse.

For me there are many problems with Brideshead Revisited. Give me more of a love story between Charles and Julia so I can see the decline of his obsession for Sebastian. Give me some acting, as I found the characters cold and unappealing. Give a challenging plot with some twists and turns to keep me involved. The film was so long that I was hoping the ship they were sailing on at one point was the Titanic and the movie would have some excitement.

There were some good points to the film, a lot of great cinematography featuring some gorgeous landscapes, a beautiful homestead and picturesque Venice. The costuming is magnificent and fits the period of pre-war England. The best performance comes from Emma Thompson as Lady Marchmain. Thompson’s character is strong, amusing at times and more realistic than the other roles in the film.

There is some very brief nudity and a scene of sexual inference which should not be a problem for the over 13 group. But, boring may be a problem for anyone under 25. So keep this in mind when choosing to have your youngsters accompany you to this film. It would be best seen with gal friends or alone on a rainy day with nothing else to do.

FINAL ANALYSIS: Brideshead Revisited is a long winded film that does not satisfy.