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STUDIO: Miramax
MSRP: $29.99
RATED: PG-13
RUNNING TIME: 133 Minutes
SPECIAL FEATURES:
• Deleted Scenes
• Audio Commentary
• "The World of Brideshead" Featurette

The Pitch

"Madame Bovary vs I'm gonna git you sucka."

The Humans

Emma Thompson, Michael Gambon, Greta Scacchi, Patrick Malahide, Sarah Crowden
 
Director Julian Jarrold

The Nutshell

"When the charming aristocrat Sebastian (Ben Whishaw) invites Charles Ryder (Matthew Goode) to his family's estate, Charles becomes seduced by the opulent lifestyle of the Marchmain family, and by Julia (Emma Thompson), Sebastian's sister. As their romance deepens, repercussions follow, and Charles discovers that at Brideshead, love, money and power come at a price."

Based on the novel by Evelyn Waugh

The Lowdown

When it comes to tragic love stories no one does them better than the British. This adaptation of the classic novel is no exception. From the beginning when we see Charles living an unremarkable life with his emotionally detached father, Charles suffocation at such an existence is felt right away. When he finally breaks free by attending college as an art student the change in Charles is immediate. Of course what helps Charles is his relationship with Sebastian, an openly gay student whose family owns the estate Brideshead.



The best part of the movie is the relationship between Charles and Sebastian. When Charles visits Sebastian for the first time he is mesmerized much to Sebastian's disappointment. Sebastian does not have fond memories of Brideshead - for him it is a reminder of the strong hold his mother has had on him through the years and it is no surprise whenever Sebastian is there for any length of time he becomes ill.

Brideshead has the opposite effect on Charles, who acts like a kid in a candy store. Of course this sort of lifestyle is new to him and it is not until he meets Charles' mother that he soon begins to understand why Sebastian would rather be as far away from that place as possible. Brideshead is not the only thing that Charles falls in love with. After spending a vacation with Marchmain family, Charles falls in love with Sebastian's sister Julia. Just as Sebastian was dominated by his mother, Julia is conflicted on what direction she wants to take in life. Unfortunately for Charles, his relationship with the entire family suffers through the years and yet his memories of Brideshead will stay with him forever.



Brideshead Revisited would be a remarkable movie if not for the lackluster second half. Where the first part of the movie had all the right elements - discovery, friendships, betrayal - the second half practically comes to a complete halt. This has to do in large part to the movie just focusing on Charles and Julia with Sebastian nowhere to be found. Big mistake because Sebastian was the character that elevated the first half mainly because he had something worthwhile to say. It was the complexities of his character that made everyone else interesting.

The Package

The deleted scenes were actually pretty good and I wish they would have been included as part of the main feature. The world of Brideshead is your standard making of featurette that shows the cast and crew hard at work. Overall a decent set of features.

6.5 out of 10