Brideshead Revisited (1)
Complete 11-Episode Series
Evelyn Waugh's classic novel of romantic yearning and loss became the universally acclaimed television series that viewers on both sides of the Atlantic wished would never end. Set between the wars amid the fading glory of the British Empire and great family fortunes, Brideshead is a story of youthful illusions, of exquisite earthly beauty and of divine grace. Starring Jeremy Irons and Anthony Andrews and featuring Diana Quick, Sir John Gielgud, Claire Bloom and the incomparable Sir Laurence Olivier in an Emmy Award-winning performance.
Member Reviews
Superb, despite Evelyn Waugh's outlandish prejudices - jack1
CAUTION! I have not seen the later film of this story, so my comments are limited.
This earlier version has haunted haunted me over the many years I have known it. It is an ultimately tragic story of failed love doomed by author Evelyn Waugh's repressed homosexuality and conversion to Roman Catholicism in its narrowest form. In an early quote he called himself "a bisexual" (a highly questionable designation), when confronted by the confession of fellow Oxford students of the affairs he had with them - not that such affairs were uncommon among the male Oxford and Cambridge student bodies in the 1920's.
For all the sadness and fury I felt at the end, I found myself entranced by by this story of developing doom. The acting is beyond excellent, beginning with the Commoner Charles Ryder (Jeremy Irons) and the Aristocrat Sebastian Flyte (Anthony Andrews) and in "lesser" roles, John Gielgud, Claire Bloom, and the incomparable Laurence Olivier in the unforgettable death scene an aristocrat, the last of his line.
Member Reviews
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Superb, despite Evelyn Waugh's outlandish prejudices - jack1
CAUTION! I have not seen the later film of this story, so my comments are limited.
This earlier version has haunted haunted me over the many years I have known it. It is an ultimately tragic story of failed love doomed by author Evelyn Waugh's repressed ...