I just finished watching the series yesterday- it was so good!! I thought the characters were wonderfully portrayed and acted out, thanks to the amazing Jeremy Irons.
In this post, I shall say a few words about the novel, what struck me the most about it, and perhaps I'll elaborate on the series.
Ok so with the novel- it was my first novel written by Evelyn Waugh and I greatly enjoyed it.
What struck me was the similarity between this novel and Tender is the Night by F.Scott Fitzgerald. Many comparisons can be drawn between the downfall of Sebastian in this novel, and the downfall of Dick Diver in Fitzgerald's novel. With both characters, alcohol played a large role in their downfall, and if I remember correctly, no one could save or help them. I think an essay on this comparison would prove to be very interesting.
Another thing that struck me was the insight and foreshadowing of two seemingly minor, disrespected characters: Cara and Anthony Blanche. Cara (Lord Marchmain's mistress) was completely right that day she warned Charles of Sebastian's drinking habits, and how he drinks differently to Charles. She was spot on. In addition, Anthony (an Oxford student I think) spoke of Sebastian's charm, which was all he had and all he could be, and eventually, that is all he was left with- a ruined man, but still charming.
I did find the series rather slow-paced, but I loved how accurate and detailed they were- it's not often that you get a series over 11 hours long of a novel! I loved the narration by Jeremy Irons, as well as the setting of Castle Howard, and the gorgeous costumes worn by Julia, especially in the final episodes.
A further discussion point that interested and rather perplexed me was the influence and power of religion on a family. This had its impact in both Lord Marchmain's death, and Julia's decision to not marry Charles, despite their engagement.
Firstly, I'll briefly outline the events of Marchmain's death, so that we are all on the same page. He returned to England, to Brideshead, after living for the majority of his married life in Italy, with Cara. He was unwell, and we were informed that he had returned home to die. He had never been religious. His wife had been a devout Catholic. He become Catholic so that he could marry his wife, and he had a chapel built for her on their estate. Then, he could bear her religion no longer. She was controlling, she was strict. He drank. Then, he left to Italy, to enjoy a life of pleasure and freedom.
I have to say that I deeply disliked the character of Lady Marchmain. I found her opressive, and not understanding. Of course, she had her husband's and children's best wishes at heart, and so every action she made was influenced by that, but I rather feel that it was these actions that drove both her husband and son Sebastian away. However, I do admire her calmness in handling some situations, such as when she found out that Sebastian had been drink-driving and had consequently got into trouble with the police.
Anyway, Marchmain wasn't religious in the slightest. He said himself he hadn't attended church in years. Ah, but this is where stuff starts to get complicated. Attending church doesn't mean you are religious. I myself am religious. I am a Christian, and have been brought up this way by my mother. I believe that a church is a body of people worshipping the Lord, rather than a beautiful building filled with candles and statues. I do not believe in praying to the Virgin Mary, and I have never given a second thought about saints. I do not believe in praying to them- they were just people, just like you and me- we are all sinners- and although they may have been exceptionally good, I will not pray to them just because of that.
Anyhow, so he could have been Christian, he could have had faith, and this links to what happens in his final dying moments. But either way, we can assume he was not. So, here's the dilemma. It can be assumed that he did not want to be buried in the Catholic way. The priest came while he was lying on his deathbed, and Marchmain asked him to leave. Now, the family, in particular Brideshead, Julia and Cordelia, kept insisting the priest to come over in order to perform the Catholic rituals while he was dying. There is an interesting discussion between Charles and the three Marchmain children, where Charles asks what significance the priest actually plays- none of them know the answer. Cara seems to get it totally wrong. So why are the children so insistent on a priest? I believe that it was for selfish reasons. They wanted peace of heart to know that their father had been buried the 'proper' way. But was it wrong for them to do this? After all, it was against his will. And this is why Charles found it all so cruel. I agreed with him. How can you pressure a dying man to do something against his will? He had scorned religion his whole life. Now you are forcing it upon him.
However, the other side of the argument is that maybe they did it because they loved him, and wanted the best for him, and this meant him getting blessed by a priest. Now here's what's interesting- in the end- Marchmain did the sign of the cross on himself- this was the one symbol showing that he accepted God. What do we make of that? So he accepted religion when he took his last breath. Does that mean that the priest's blessing was not against his will? Did he, deep down, want it, accept religion? I do not know what to make of it, apart from the knowledge that in times of weakness, in times of despair and pain, people, even atheists, seek God. They pray to him, ask for his help. Just like with me, I hate to admit it, when I am in pain, I start to fervently pray to God. And my friends, who say they pray the night before an exam. So maybe, when Marchmain's pride had finally collapsed, when he was just about to die, thought he had nothing to lose, and made the sign of the cross.
Now, another event in the novel based on religion: Julia's decision to not marry Charles, because she had been 'living in sin' and decided not continue in this way. She felt she should not try and displease God even more, and so restrained herself from marrying the man whom she loved, and who loved her dearly. After all, they both divorced their partners in order to marry each other. It was heartbreaking, watching this scene. I felt so bad for Charles. He had wanted this so much.
So I understand that, by marrying a divorced man, she would be sinning, as Catholics are not allowed to marry divorced men or women, even though she had married Rex Mottram, a divorced man, although she knew this was a sin, but chose to disobey God. So she decided not to disobey God again, because of the touching scene of her father dying, and watching him make the sign of the cross. However, she said something like, you know me Charles, I was always a heathen, I shall not stay devout for long. Obviously this suggests she will have other lovers and perhaps even marry again, so it's just sad to think that she knows she will be disobedient again, but because of this whim, she has decided to be obedient and hence not marry Charles. At a later date, perhaps she would have. So I thought that Julia's decision was rather selfish. However, it is impressive - this self-restraint- finally she is deciding to have some self-control and obedience, and wants to make the 'right' choices. This ever-growing idea of her shame was also shown in the garden-scene- where she cried in Charles' arms, saying that she knew she was 'living in sin'. She also felt sorry for her mother, who died with her sin burdening her.
Oh and just as a quick little other thought, so I do have to admit, that I was upset about the drift in focus away from Sebastian. What happened to that charming young man, who we spent so much time with in the beginning of the novel? Charles seems to completely lose interest in him, and becomes interested in his family and in Julia instead. In fact, his affair and eventual engagement with Julia came as a complete shock to me, and I certainly wasn't a fan. I actually really didn't want this novel to become a typical romance. I mean, from the blurb, his romance with Julia was suggested, and I was greatly pleased when things weren't steering in that direction from the beginning. But anyways, what happened to Charles' affection for Sebastian? That boy whom he loved so dearly? Forgotten? We get glimpses of him in foreign countries, and the last we hear of him is through Cordelia, who went to visit him and reported that he is ruined and unhappy.
I mean, a possible explanation for this is that nothing could be done for him. He was on his own downwards spiral, and nothing or no one could save him, so Charles drifted away from him, just like the rest of his family. Another thing, I guess that this withdrawal from Sebastian, and involvement with the Marchmain family, means that we get a representation of society and morals in the 1920s. We get an insight into the burdens put onto the upper class- the pressure of marrying someone respectable (in this case Catholic) and wealthy. So Julia married for love, but even that went very badly. It's a very depressing novel. She marries for love, but it goes badly. And Charles! Deary me- I cannot respect or sympathise with him- his actions make him a very dislikeable character- the way he treats his wife- there are no feelings or respect for her- he cheats on her- he spends no time with his children, leaves his wife for 2 years, she has to give birth by herself, and does not even go and see his second child. Despicable.
The setting and characters perhaps make them instantly dislikeable, reading about them in this day and age. It is of a privileged white family, who are proud and have a tight upper lip. Charles himself hates the rise of the middle class, and the man 'Hooper' embodies all of this. The greasy fish and chip shops and so on.
However, do you know, it got me thinking. We don't have this anymore. Grand houses like Brideshead are no longer built in this country, and we don't have hundreds of servants waiting on you. The super rich nowadays live in luxury flats, or own many all over the world. This type of living has almost been scrapped. In our society, it is not what the super rich strive for. And I was also thinking, surely having servants is such a privacy issue. How would you be able to speak freely over the dining table? This is aptly represented in the series. In my family, we don't eat meals or even dinner together. I miss these traditions. I wish we dressed like people did in the 1920s, I would love to dress in beautiful glamorous costumes for dinner, and I love the idea of living in such a grand place with servants waiting upon me. However, I realise this is perhaps an illusion. We see the stresses and strains of such a family in this novel. It is certainly not all fun and laughter.
Well, all in all, this novel gave me a lot of food for thought, and the series was greatly enjoyable, so I definitely recommend both reading the novel and watching the series!
Update!! (04.01.20) I started watching the 2008 Brideshead film tonight. I wasn't sure whether I should, as I sort of wanted to remember Brideshead and the characters as how they were presented in the original series. By watching the second one, I thought it would be like having two sets, which is so weird. Three, if you count the ones in my head, the ones I imagined when reading the novel. Anyway, IT'S SO GOOD. But totally not Brideshead Revisited. They should not have called it that. It's like a fan fiction of it. I have 45 minutes left to watch of it, so I'll finish it tomorrow. It's late now, but I was making notes while I watched it, and will copy them into here tomorrow, complete with a thorough discussion!!!! Safe to say, I recommend, but it is not Brideshead Revisited.
Update (04.01.20) I just finished watching it. Funny. I adored the film yesterday, when I watched half of it. Tonight, I watched the last 45 minutes of it, and I deeply disliked it. It is simply not Brideshead Revisited, and I wish they hadn't called it that.
I'd say the biggest change was just how sped up everything was. I think that if I hadn't read the book, or watched the original film, I wouldn't have understood what was going on. It was rushed, and it felt rushed. So many parts had been skipped out and missed. It was more of a romance between Charles and Sebastian, and then a romance between Julia and Charles. There was even a bit of a love triangle situation going on between Sebastian, Charles and Julia. In fact, that was going on throughout the whole thing. This whole rushed thing though, that is understandable, as they condensed something that had previously been around 11.5 hours to 2 hours and 10 minutes.
I also noticed how Matthew Goode (Charles Ryder) was copying some of the mannerisms of my dear Jeremy Irons from the original Brideshead. Most probably it wasn't intentional, but it just shows how the original is just THE one. I've never watched him act in anything else though, so I may be mistaken.
Another difference between the 1981 version and the 2008 version was the voice over narration. In the original, Jeremy Irons narrated throughout the whole thing. Here, there is only narration in the beginning and the end. I definitely prefer it with the narration through the whole thing, especially with Jeremy Irons' beautiful voice.
Notable differences: Lady Marchmain wanted Julia to marry Rex, because he was a Catholic. In the novel, she forbids her to marry him, because he is not a Catholic. Also, in the novel, Charles has two children. Here he has none. They never mention that Rex is divorced, and Charles buys Julia off Rex. I mean, to be honest, I could write a massive list of the differences, but I don't think there would be much point in it.
Also, just as a quick side note, the children kissed their parents on the lips. Did people do that in the past? Because now, that's considered so weird and inappropriate. I wonder why this change has occurred.
The camera angles around Castle Howard are way better and highlights how stunning it is. I want to visit it one day! Definitely.
Anthony Blanche is so different- I loved the old one- this ones good too but that one was more striking. Update (04.01.20) He is not good. Give me my old Anthony Blanche back. He was someone unique, striking, lovable, memorable. The stutter here is barely noticeable, whereas in the original it was EVERYTHING. And those eye rolls. Ugh. Yes!!
There was no anticipation waiting to see what characters were like. How I waited for mother and sister and brother and father and Cara and all in the original. And Charles' wife!! She’s shown in the first scene in this film. My initial thought was that it doesn't suit Sebastian to be gay. It made it seem like that defined him, when that's not what he's meant to represent in my opinion. It was very weird seeing Felicity Jones (Cordelia) so young here!! The first time I saw her in a film was in The Theory of Everything. I recommend that film, it's amazing. It made me weep. - No offence but I thought Julia seemed piggish here. - 5 Black Cordelia's just sounds awful. What some people would call the White Saviour Complex?
- The singing in the chapel adds a lot- really adds to the idea of religion and Catholicism. I also like the symbolism of Mary and her baby (in statue form). And in the final scene when Charles put two fingers around the candle flame. That was memorable.
- Julia never spent so much time with Sebastian and Charles in the book, but this makes more sense, especially given the time limit, as how else could Charles marry her so suddenly?
- Why is family so important? (Julia saying, 'I'm the family shadow'). Nowadays no one thinks of ‘family’ like that , even large families with 4 kids.
- It’s so weird seeing men in swimming costumes.
- This drinking on the spot is not effective (Sebastian drinking in Oxford when Mr Samgrass was chasing him). Too forced.
- Lord Marchmain coming in to Brideshead is comedic. In the wheelchair with the mask on his face and the tens of maids and servants running out like a flock of geese. What did it add to it?
- They’ve made a mess of it- Final verdict.
The scene with Charles and Sebastian having fun - the collation of all their best memories- is my favourite scene. I watched it on repeat. The soundtrack is beautiful. I've been listening to Always Summer by Adrian Johnston this whole evening. Here it is on Youtube: https://youtu.be/4h3ySsSVL6Q . I even played it on the piano just now. I want to practice and practice it till it's perfect, and then film a beautiful video with my piano playing in the background.
Update (05.01.20) I am so grateful to be able to play the piano. Although I'm not a natural, and have never been a fan of playing it (it's way too hard for me and requires too much time and effort- I don't enjoy starting a piece, sight reading and playing it badly), I believe that when you can play a piece, not just listen to it, you understand and appreciate it so much more. You can understand it's construction, and can reproduce this beauty yourself!
In short- I'm lost at what to say. It's not a bad film. You can go and watch it. It's rather beautiful. But the original is the proper thing.
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