I went to see the tnew film of Brideshead Revisited last night. Brideshead Re-edited.
First off, I’ll admit that it was not at all the trainwreck I was expecting. Nor was it wholly and unentirely unlike the book – except that the Catholicism Screws You Up Theme was much much stronger in a way that Evelyn Waugh might not have liked. And of course the inevitable plot changes – Julia in Venice, WTF?
It was, however, Brideshead Revisited at Warp Speed as whole years went flying out of the window and everything crashed about at the same time in the plot. Bridey and Cordelia nearly ended up flying out of the window after them. Surely the fact that Cordelia is by-and-large content should be important, especially in contrast to her siblings? And whilst Ed Stoppard is a thoroughly repulsive Bridey, he is thoroughly repulsive, where beloved Simon “Arthur Dent” Jones in the TV series was perfectly disconnected, which is how I think Bridey should be. Cousin Jasper wouldn’t say of FilmBridey: “Brideshead went down last year, a very sound fellow…” FilmBridey is not sound to any point of view.
The film is held together by Matthew Goode, who really is a very good Charles. He doesn’t quite match up to Jeremy Irons, but he doesn’t get the material (or the voice over) to do it with. He’s also, perhaps, a little too likeable (or maybe that’s just me nurturing a little crush) – he’s not quite as ill-at-ease in Brideshead as Irons’ Ryder. His outsider-ness is made clear in the fact that he comes from Paddington, and is continually stated, rather than shown. Ben Wishaw is a fairly annoying Sebastian. I didn’t really care at all when he fell apart – which happened FAR too quickly. I think the genius of Anthony Andrews’ performance is that everybody fell in love with him alongside Charles. Perhaps part of the problem is the speed of the film – the first year at Oxford blinks in a click of the fingers, and the languid days at Brideshead exist only in montage – so there is no time to get to care about Sebastian. But it is a problem nonetheless. Poor Julia is also hard done by – her marriage to Rex slams in out of nowhere, with no understanding of wherefores and whys until later – whereas Charles always understood why, and wasn’t personally injured at the time. In this Julia is running away from Charles as much as her family. Emma Thompson is a glorious Catholic Matriarch though. She’s tougher than Claire Bloom was, but it’s just a slightly different take on the character – both are valid, and indeed, the speed this film works at requires that Lady Marchmain be much more forcefully insidious. She and Goode are probably worth going to see the film for – or for waiting for it on DVD.
It wasn’t a bad film. Neither was it a particularly good film, and it certainly was not as good a version of the novel as the TV series. In fact, if there were no novel, it still wouldn’t be a good remake of the TV series. And it really is impossible not to compare the two, especially if you know the TV series well. But I think the book requires a longer telling, where there is dialogue that isn’t simply there to advance the plot, and perhaps a quieter one. The story is a slow burning move towards misery and emptiness – the film features a crashing downfall.
