Pretty settings no charm
For anyone who loved either the novel or the 11 part 1981 BBC series, this will come as a disappointment. There is no time in less than two hours to portray neither the languid--in a good sense--quality of life at Oxford nor the nature of non-sexual "romantic friendships" between college boys in those days. Also, Emma Thompson, great actress that she is was entire too rigid to be attractive to anyone. She comes across as a Mother Superior in aristocratic finery. Very one note and that note rings as "YOU ARE BAD". Claire Bloom in the series had beauty and a "toffee nosed" charm as her weapons. In all, it was not a moving film with none of the heart wrenching quality that was in the book and the series. And to top it all, Charles Ryder is made out to be the villain of the piece rather than the victim. Seeing Castle Howard in Yorkshire again was a pleasure. It is always stunning to try and translate the amount of money it must have cost to build in the early 17th C. into current values