Brideshead Revisited
2008
***
Director: Julian Jarrold
Cast: Matthew Goode, Ben Whishaw, Hayley Atwell, Emma Thompson, Michael Gambon, Greta Scacchi, Patrick Malahyde, Felicity Jones
Evelyn Waugh's 1945 novel was most famously adapted to an 11-hour TV series in 1981. This film version strips down the complexities of the book to a simple romantic drama. The story starts in the 1920s, when Charles Ryder, an Oxford history student who wants to become a painter, becomes captivated with the company of Lord Sebastian Flyte, and falls in love with his sister Julia. As the years roll by, their relationship faces obstacles from Julia's devoutly Catholic family. As an adaptation, this is rushed, superficial and totally unnecessary. As a love story, it is too long but perfectly enjoyable.
