Moviola > Films > Brideshead Revisited

Brideshead Revisited  (12A)  130 mins

27 years after the acclaimed television version, which ran to 11 hours, and with Castle Howard again standing in for the eponymous stately home, this is perforce a much more condensed version of Evelyn Waugh's great novel.  It also takes considerable liberties with the story.  At its centre is the relationship between Charles Ryder (Matthew Goode), a middle-class young man with aspirations to be a painter, and the flamboyant and deep-drinking aristocrat Sebastian Flyte (Ben Wishaw).  They meet at Oxford, and when Sebastian invites him to Brideshead for the summer, Charles becomes infatuated with his friend's grand family, the spectacular house they live in, and Sebastian's beautiful sister Julia (Hayley Atwell).  But issues besides class and money keep Charles an interloper in Sebastian's world: the Marchmains are an old Catholic family and the formidable Lady Marchmain (Emma Thompson) makes it clear to Charles that his atheism rules him out as a prospective husband for Julia.  With Michael Gambon as Lord Marchmain and Greta Scacchi as his Italian mistress.

"As directed by Julian Jarrold Brideshead Revisited -revisited is a less gloomy affair than its predecessor, boasting better stately homes and gardens bathed in a warm chocolate glow, colorful trips abroad to Venice and Morocco, and a marketably youthful cast."  The Village Voice

"Emma Thompson is icily magnificent in this film, doing perhaps among her best work ever. While keeping her emotions in constant check, she nonetheless communicates every nuance of Lady Marchmain's character.  Michael Gambon has only a few scenes, but he brings great tragic nobility to the role."  San Francisco Chronicle

"Emma, his pr

www.thefilmfactory.co.uk/brideshead

Last modified: 11-Aug-2009

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