The Cazalets on DVD, War, Hugh Bonneville, Stephen Dillane

Mini-series adapted from a series of novels that's set at the estate of a large privileged Sussex family and follows their life in London between the years 1937 and 1947.

STARS: Hugh Bonneville, Stephen Dillane, Lesley Manville

360 min | Drama, War | 2001 | Color

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Warm and wonderful BBC drama series set in the 1930s and 1940s

This TV family saga is based upon four of the largely autobiographical series of five novels by Elizabeth Jane Howard (1923-2014) known jointly as The Cazalet Chronicles, although the fifth and final volume, All Change, was not published until 2013 and hence is not portrayed in the TV series. The young girl named Clary who wants to be a writer is modelled upon Howard herself. This series was produced by the late Verity Lambert through her company Cinema Verity, with the actress Joanna Lumley as co-producer. Lumley would doubtless have kept a sharp eye on period detail, and correct enunciation and mannerisms. The only thing wrong with this series is the absolutely terrible lighting. Sometimes a dark room comes across almost as a beach scene in the South of France. The lighting man should have been sent to the Gulag and never released. Much of the film was shot on location in and around a large rambling house. In the story, it is meant to be in Sussex, and with all that roof and gable thatch it must have been in one of the many Hursts which bespeckle the countryside of that sunny shire. The casting of this series was done very carefully, and everyone is spot-on. An intense and marvellous performance by Lesley Manville graces the series, but then when did a Lesley Manville performance not stand out? Not long ago I saw her as the lead in Ibsen's GHOSTS onstage in London, and her power in the theatre exceeds even her magnetism on screen. My favourite performance in this series, however, was the touching portrayal of the governess Miss Millament by Patsy Rowlands. This was the last production in which she appeared before her death. What a wonderful actress she was. In this part, she brought such pathos and feeling to a supporting role, especially when she said with tears in her eyes: 'What will become of me?' that I suspect she was aware that her own life was drawing to a close and she really meant it personally. It is very sad to think of it. The series is greatly enlivened by the performances of the three young girls by the charming, talented and I should say inspired trio of actresses Florence Hoath (as Clary), Emma Griffiths Malin (as Louise), and Claudia Renton (as Polly, whose father is always sleazily groping her). The three of them really seem to have lived the story while they were filming, and when they are on screen it is like eavesdropping to watch them. Stephen Dillane is perfectly brilliant as the odious lech to whom Lesley Manville is unfortunately married, and with whom Anna Chancellor at her most mistressy clings in countless illicit encounters. Hugh Bonneville as Hugh is sturdy and upright, Joanna Page is stunningly talented as showing distinct character change and development through the story, from a foolish and giddy young egocentric to thoughtful maturity, and Paul Rhys is magnificent as the sensitive, soulful father of Clary, Rupert Cazalet, who disappears during the War. There are too many fine performances to list, and they are all excellent. The story itself is captivating, a wholly successful saga of the intertwining lives of this family, who share the huge house and live out their separate but interrelated personal dramas under the same thatch. It is one of those series one does not want to end. Well done, all!