Brideshead Revisited (DVD)

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Despite its flaws, fans of historical dramas may enjoy this adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited, which is set in England during WWII and told mostly through an interesting set of flashbacks from decades earlier. It has all the familiar elements of British period pieces: breathtaking settings, class consciousness, near-melodramatic plotting, and conflicted characters who are as deeply flawed as they are complex.

Matthew Goode stars as Charles Ryder, a middle-class aspiring artist who meets upper-crust Sebastian Flyte (Ben Whishaw) at Oxford and they become quite close . . . so close that we wonder whether Charles is as subliminally or secretly gay as the alcoholic Sebastian and his foppish friends are openly so. When Sebastian kisses Charles, there's no pushing away, no declaration of heterosexuality, and that lays the groundwork for the film's central themes and conflict: illicit love, star-crossed love, unrequited love, misplaced love. Charles also finds himself drawn to his friend's sister, Julia (Hayley Atwell), and the plot turns as much on this attraction as it does the other. But watching in the wings is the aristocratic family matriarch, Lady Marchmain (Emma Thompson) and, to a lesser degree, Lord Marchmain (Michael Gambon), who is in exile. There are class politics, gender politics, and all manner of manipulations and attempted manipulations which are designed to keep the characters in control of their out-of-control lives and viewers on the edge of their seats. But the first half of "Brideshead Revisited" is considerably stronger than the second, with the result being that there's much more "squirming" in the home theater seats.

As Charles' relationship develops with Sebastian, there's both a sexual tension and an edginess that's lost in the plodding pacing that clogs the second act. The screenwriters also seemed to have a difficult time juggling plot elements and finding a strong central focus for the second half of the film. People marry others and then have regrets and see their original loves, and we fast-forward to WWII and Charles' emerging fame as a painter and none of it has the same power as the early scenes. But with a cast like this, it's well-acted at least, and you get a sense of each character's dreams, fears, desires, and motives-which is saying something, these days.

There's something reminiscent of Nick Carraway in Charles, from whose point of view we see the events. His middle-class station establishes him as an outsider whose observations and perceptions at times come close to those Nick made in "The Great Gatsby." It's at those introspective and insightful moments when the film feel's richest. Later in the film Charles seems more dumbfounded than thoughtful, more numb than introspective, and because he yearns to be a part of this life the interesting contrast disappears, rather than deepens. How much of this is the result of a watered-down film interpretation is impossible to say, since it's been years since I read the book. But I suspect that reader-viewers who are exacting about their adaptations will find this one lacking.

At times--again, especially in the second half--this begins to play like a made-for-TV movie, which is, in fact, the background of one of the co-writers. The other, Jeremy Brock, gave us "The Last King of Scotland." But this one suffers by comparison because there is no single, intense character to carry the film, and again the contrast between the narrator and main characters just isn't deep enough. What works, though, is the film's tone and atmosphere, which is sufficiently helped by location filming (London, West Yorkshire, Oxfordshire, North Yorkshire, Morocco, and Venice) Adrian Johnston's score, and Alice Normington's meticulous production design. It's positively dripping with period nuance and the musky scent of yearning.