Product: Brideshead Revisited [VHS] (1982)
Rating: 5.0
"Et in Arcadia Ego"--Evelyn Waugh, Chapter One
It seems almost superfluous to review this DVD. It is simply splendid!I especially enjoyed the first two hauntingly beautiful episodes that are set among the "dreaming spires" of Oxford and the dreamy palazzi along the Canal Grande of Venice. Although initially I found the dynamic between Charles and Sebastian (the young Jeremy Irons and Anthony Andrews respectively) to be the most interesting, by the time I had arrived at the later episodes (and there are thirteen of them), I was wholly captivated by all the characters. I did not want the series to end.The magic can be attributed to the fine production values--the stunning settings (some of the later scenes were shot in first class aboard the Cunard liner, Queen Elizabeth II) and rich vintage costumes, the evocative trumpets of the musical score, the splendid combination of John Mortimer's script and novelist Evelyn Waugh's actual words, the excellent direction--and the top-drawer actors, not only Irons and Andrews but also Sir John Gielgud, Sir Lawrence Olivier, and Claire Bloom, who are supported by a fine ensemble cast."Brideshead Revisited" allows even us viewers trapped in the twenty-first century, to dwell momentarily in a golden Arcadia that is gone forever.