"Brideshead Revisited" is an 11x50 minute (approx) TV miniseries which takes the viewer into the lives of the residents of a magnificent English country house and sprawling estate called Brideshead, the ultra-rich Flyte family of Lord and Lady Marchmain, and a much welcomed interloper, Charles Ryder (Jeremy Irons), of a somewhat lesser class. The film follows Ryder for two decades from his early years at Oxford to his return to Brideshead as a soldier during WWII. It opens with Ryder's return, then flashes back for most of the 11 hour run where it explores the relationships, exploits, misfortunes, adventures, and generally the lives of the very rich Flytes while fleshing out some deliciously peculiar side characters and peering deeply into the way of the English upper-crust. There's little to fault between the credits of this leisurely and expansive masterpiece which winds circuitously from Brideshead to Venice, Morocco, Central America, Paris, and New York ever tracing Ryder's footsteps through sumptuously appointed period settings and the stately halls of Brideshead (Castle Howard). A peerless, critically lauded, and award winning series featuring a superb cast including such notables as John Gielgud and Laurence Olivier, "Brideshead Revisited" should play very well with anyone into the many popular Victorian films and similar fare featuring the pomp, pith, vigor, and vanity of the English aristocracy. Note: the DVDs I watched had no CCs, Subtitles. or extra features. (A-)
Review of Brideshead Revisited
