Brideshead Reunion (film)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Goodbye to Brideshead |
| Original title | Brideshead Revisited |
| Country of production | United Kingdom |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 2008 |
| length | Original version 133, German version 127 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 6 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Julian Jarrold |
| script |
Jeremy Brock Andrew Davies |
| production |
Robert Bernstein Kevin Loader Douglas Rae |
| music | Adrian Johnston |
| camera | Jess Hall |
| cut | Chris Gill |
| occupation | |
| |
Reunion with Brideshead is a British feature film from 2008. After the multi-part television production from 1981 , this is the second film adaptation of the novel by Evelyn Waugh .
action
In the 1920s, the middle-class Oxford student Charles Ryder, who actually wanted to be a painter, met the young nobleman Sebastian Flyte at university. Sebastian introduces Charles to his family at the family seat, the lordly Brideshead Castle. Lady Marchmain, the mother, is a devout Catholic and leads a strict regiment over her children Lord Brideshead, called "Bridey", Sebastian, Julia and Cordelia. Charles, who describes himself as an atheist, has little to do with the rigid religiosity of the family, from which Sebastian in particular suffers. The relationship between Charles and Sebastian is characterized by homoerotic romanticism, but Charles is also fascinated by the self-confident and headstrong Julia. Julia and Sebastian visit with Charles their father Lord Marchmain, who has left the family and lives in Venice with his lover Cara. When Sebastian observes Charles and Julia getting closer and kissing, he is jealous of Charles. Back in England, Lady Marchmain makes it clear to Charles that, according to God's command, Julia can only marry a Catholic. However, she asks Charles to come to Brideshead for Juliet's 21st birthday ball and take care of Sebastian, whose alcohol problem is getting worse. At the ball, Lady Marchmain announces Julia's engagement to Rex Mottram. Julia confesses to Charles that she has to think about the romantic days with him in Venice all the time, but that she has no choice but to marry Mottram. Sebastian shows up drunk and in his street suit at the ball and riot, it comes to a scandal. When Charles accuses Lady Marchmain of being responsible for Sebastian's unhappy condition through her religious psychological terror, she throws Charles out.
Four years later, the terminally ill Lady Marchmain visits Charles and asks him to bring Sebastian back, who is in Morocco. There Charles finds his old friend in a hospital, where he is recovering from the flu. Sebastian, weakened by his alcohol addiction, is unable to travel; he assures Charles that he and his German partner Kurt will lead a happy life far away from his family. Lady Marchmain dies without having seen her younger son again.
A few years later, Charles Ryder is a successful painter and married. With his wife Celia he travels from South America to England. On the ship he meets Julia, the old love flares up again. They decide to divorce their spouses and officially live together in England. In a conversation between Charles and Rex Mottram, Mottram grandly explains that he only married Julia because of her social position and that he converted pro forma to Catholicism without actually being a believer. He mockingly reproaches Charles that he could have married Julia at the time if he had been hypocritical. Rex offers Charles to agree to the divorce in exchange for two of his pictures. Charles agrees. Julia overheard the conversation at the door and is shocked. She accuses Charles of having bought her from Rex, doubts his love and asks him whether he is really interested in her or rather the Brideshead Castle, which he loves. As proof of his love, he offers her to move away from the castle. As Charles and Julia are about to leave, the seriously ill Lord Marchmain appears with Cara to spend the last months of his life on Brideshead. Julia and Charles stay. Except for Sebastian, who works as a porter in the hospital in Morocco, all the children are present. The old lord, who disapproves of religion, resists the urge of his children to see the priest and to be reconciled with the Church. Therefore, Charles, who is on Marchmain's side, gets into an argument with Julia. When the no longer addressable Lord Marchmain is dying, the priest appears at the instigation of his children and gives him absolution. Marchmain strikes the cross with his last strength and thus gives a sign of his reconciliation with God to the relief of his children. Julia then separates from Charles because the commandments of her religion are more important to her than the "sinful" relationship with the man she loves.
As an officer in the British Army, Charles Ryder returned to the castle later in World War II, which was assigned to his unit as quarters. He learns that Julia, the current owner, is overseas and that her eldest brother Bridey has died. In the palace chapel, images of the happy days with Sebastian and Julia pass before his inner eye.
criticism
The lexicon of international films wrote: "Dramaturgically coherent and with a calm visual language succeeds in a convincing reading of the classic, which with its cleverly delimited microcosm reflects the atmosphere of the time and the discourse about the collapse of old value systems in the face of epochal change."
Ekkehard Knörer, however, came to the conclusion in the daily newspaper that the film adaptation of the novel did not do justice. The main problem lies in “the fact that the film simplifies and falsifies the central theme, namely the relationship between the characters and Catholicism. The deep ambivalence of the eccentric Waugh, who himself converted to the Catholic faith, turns into a simple reckoning with outrageous bigotry. ”Under the surface, the film is“ hollow and banal and thus the complete opposite of the novel. ”
AO Scott criticized the film in the New York Times as tedious, confused and banal ("lengthy, confused and banal"). The reviewer pointed out that in the novel as well as in the film adaptation from 1981, social norms, religious obligations and sexual taboos are presented in a complex network of the realities of life at the time. However: None of it registers with any force in this lazy, complacent film, which takes the novel's name in vain. ("None of that makes an emphasis in this sluggish, complacent film that wrongly bears the novel's title.")
In Spiegel Online , Daniel Sander saw great caution in the remake with regard to the fan base of the novel and the film version from 1981. “This film is pale and noble like its characters - but also completely discouraged. The long-awaited theatrical version of Evelyn Waugh's novel of the century 'Reunion with Brideshead' is far too cautious to become a classic itself. "
background
Originally, David Yates was to be the director, Paul Bettany as Charles, Jude Law as Sebastian and Jennifer Connelly as Julia. Chatsworth House was to serve as the brideshead castle . Yates' involvement as the director of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix prevented the project from happening in this constellation. The film was shot in summer 2007 with Julian Jarrold as director and other leading actors. As with the 1981 film adaptation, the recordings relating to the fictional Brideshead Castle were made on Castle Howard . The world premiere was on July 25, 2008 in New York City , the German premiere took place on November 20, 2008. Because of the hinted sex scene between Hayley Atwell and Matthew Goode as well as the numerous scenes in which there is smoking, the film received the tightened child protection warning PG-13 (possibly unsuitable for under 13-year-olds) and in Great Britain and Ireland the classification 12A ( for under 12s only accessible when accompanied by an adult). The German FSK , on the other hand, released the film from the age of 6.
Image carrier
- Goodbye to Brideshead. Concord Home Entertainment, Munich 2009 (DVD, German and English, but without English subtitles).
Web links
- Brideshead Head in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Goodbye to Brideshead. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ Ekkehard Knörer: Tragödien des Katholizismus , in: the daily newspaper of November 28, 2008, accessed April 30, 2011.
- ^ AO Scott: Bright Young Things in Love and Pain , in: The New York Times, July 25, 2008, accessed April 30, 2011.
- ↑ Daniel Sander: Legend without passion , on: Spiegel Online Kultur, November 20, 2008, accessed April 30, 2011.