Brideshead Revisited (2008)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Julian Jarrold

Writers:

Andrew Davies (written by) and
Jeremy Brock (written by) ...

Release Date:

25 July 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Love is not ours to control

Plot:

A poignant story of forbidden love and the loss of innocence set in England prior to the Second World War.

Plot Keywords:

England | Catholic | WWII | Military Officer | Alcoholism

Awards:

10 nominations

Cast

Matthew Goode	...	Charles Ryder
Thomas Morrison	...	Hooper
David Barrass	...	Ship's Barber
Anna Madeley	...	Celia Ryder
Sarah Crowden	...	Lady Guest
Stephen Carlile	...	English Lord
Peter Barnes	...	American Professor
Hayley Atwell	...	Julia Flyte
Patrick Malahide	...	Edward Ryder
Richard Teverson	...	Cousin Jasper
Joseph Beattie	...	Anthony Blanche
Ben Whishaw	...	Sebastian Flyte
Roger Walker	...	Lunt
Mark Field	...	Boy Mulcaster
Mark Edel-Hunt	...	Oxford Student

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some sexual content.

Runtime:

USA:133 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

USA:PG-13 | UK:12A | Ireland:12A | Australia:PG | Netherlands:12 | Singapore:M18 | Denmark:A | New Zealand:M | Portugal:M/12 | Hong Kong:IIA | Finland:K-11 | Sweden:7

Filming Locations:

Art Deco Palm Court, Park Lane Hotel, Piccadilly, London, England, UK

Company:

2 Entertain

Trivia:

For the Oxford scenes, real Oxford students were recruited to play their 1920's counterparts. For the scene where Charles and Sebastian first meet, real members of the exclusive Bullingdon Club can be seen behind him wearing their traditional blazers. A few of them can also be seen in the luncheon scene that takes place the next day.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The Venetian drummers have instruments fitted with Mylar drumheads (Remo Pinstripes) that were not manufactured before WWII. Calfskin heads or ones that resembled calfskin would have been more appropriate for the time.

Quotes:

[First Lines]
Charles Ryder: [Internal monologue while walking out of Brideshead Castle] If you'd asked me now who I am? The only answer I could give with any certainty would be my name: Charles Ryder. For the rest: My loves, my hates, down even to my deepest desires;I can no longer say whether these emotions are my own, or stolen from those others we desperately wish to be. On second thought; one emotion remains my own. Alone among the borrowed and the second-hand. As pure as that faith of which I'm still in flight:... Guild.

Movie Connections:

Version of "Brideshead Revisited" (1981)

Soundtrack:

Rumba

not given

Unfortunately, this is an absolute train wreck of a film. The main problem is the script, which almost completely squanders the language of the novel, substituting instead much modern cliché-ridden drivel. The only bits of dialogue which ring true are those lifted wholesale from the novel. The writers / producers etc. have dumbed the story down, presumably to reach a wider audience, but this has not worked - there were approx. 10 people in the cinema at the start of the performance - pretty terrible for a peak time show of a film out less than a week - and possibly six remaining at the end. You CAN make a great film out of a great novel, see "Atonement" for example, but this film simply insults its source material.