Welcome to Gaia! :: View User's Journal | Gaia Journals

So, I've noticed that most of this year has been spent bitching and moaning over movies that I haven't actually bothered to go and see. I've hardly gone to the movies at all, which isn't shocking. I've been busy.

I did recently go to see The Mummy 3. That was...fine. It was a light-hearted romp into a world of martial arts and large hairy creatures and while it did not have enough Jet Li it did have a Chinese girl in period military garb, which was way cool.

However, that is not what I have come here to write about. I could not sing its praises for an entire journal entry. Besides, that was weeks ago.

No, I am here to gush about a movie that may be my new favorite of all time. That is not exaggeration.

Brideshead Revisited.

I'll start with the title, with which I have a hate/love relationship. On the one hand, the word 'revisited' really annoys me. Why? Because the revisitation is hardly the point. The initial visitation is. On the other hand, the title is perfect. It is unpretentious. It doesn't try to tell you what the movie is going to be about. It lets you decide for yourselve. That's what a title should do. It should be a convenient way to refer to a film in conversation, not part of the film itself.

Now, a brief synopsis, which I must write myself for lack of an adequate one readily available.

The film is based on a book of the same name by Evelyn Waugh. This same book was made into a miniseries in 1981 (which is purported to be better than the movie, a claim to which I cannot yet attest). It is set in the heyday between World War I and World War II, in Britain. The main character is a middle class artist by the name of Charles Ryder who goes to Oxford to study history. There he meets the (to use the words of a reviewer on some Christian website) 'a dandified aesthete of dubious sexuality' named Sebastian, an aristocrat of the Marchmain family. Dubious sexuality my foot. There was nothing dubious about it. But the term aesthete I like, for reasons I will later explain.

In any case, Charles and Sebastian quickly form a 'romantic friendship' as it is put in the film itself. Charles is quickly dragged (though not against his will) into the world of Brideshead, a manor belonging to the Marchmain family. The Marchmains are Catholic (Charles is an atheist), and their mother, something of a matriarch, as their father long ago fled to Italy, is doing her best to make sure that she raises good Catholic children. You can only imagine how well this is working out for Sebastian.

Anywho, I absolutely do not want to spoil the movie, because I am adamant that everyone who reads this go and see it, but here's the plot in the most ambiguous phrasing possible:

Charles forms relationships of various natures with Sebastian, his sister Julia, and their mother. Sebastian flees to Morocco. Julia marries an American slimeball. Angst ensues. Charles becomes a well known painter. War. The end.

There is so much more to it than that, but I'll leave that to you.

I'm going to try to offer a brief explanation of why I adore this film so very much.

Reason 1: The second I heard that Charles Ryder was going to attend Oxford, I knew exactly what was going to happen. If you know me, you are doubtless well aware that I am an Oscar Wilde freak. I am obsessive. I carry green carnations on his birthday. Oscar Wilde went to Oxford. Oscar Wilde was 'a dandified aesthete of dubioius sexuality.' Are you getting my drift here? Anything that portrays the culture of the aesthetic movement in Britain and especially at Oxford will automatically win points with me.

Reason 2: This film was beautiful. It was decadent, it was elegant, it was graceful, it was passionate. It was ethereal. No, the film wasn't realistic. The emotions of the characters were not the emotions of your next door neighbors. It was greater than reality. It did not need to stoop to the level of reality. It was an absolute vision, and if you allow it to sweep you away, there is no turning back.

Reason 3: I adored the look of the film. The 1920s. British aristocracy. What isn't to love? The colors were beautiful, the costumes magnificent. The soundtrack stuck with me long after I had left the theater. It was a fantasy, an absolute vision.

Mind you, I did not see this film in your usual venue. I went to the Grand theater in Tacoma, which had the benefit of cheaper popcorn and less seating, which meant greater intimacy. The film is intimate, and should be viewed that way. I would almost say wait until it comes out on DVD just so you can watch it in your living room.

Now for the part where we all use our brains: Analysis.

Like we won't all get enough of that in our English classes this year. Nevertheless, there are themes that need to be addressed and questions that need to be posed.

1: The decline of the aristocracy
Basically, this underlies the entire film. The Marchmain family's way of doing things is swiftly becoming outdated. Their manor house is heavily mortgaged, the children know that their family is swiftly becoming a relic. The end of the film, which is the beginning of World War II, praises the rise of the common man and the modern world.

2: Religion.
Just as Charles Ryder is an outsider to the Marchmain family in that he is not aristocratic, he is also an atheist amongst a family whose overwhelmingly dominant feature is Catholicism. If you see the film (which you will) consider these things individually:

Sebastian's relationship with Catholicism versus Julia's. A little compare and contrast. Both claim to be sinners, yet both accept the religion (at least initially). Sebastian is able to escape (both through his alcoholism and his eventual physical flight), which is understandable since his mother had practically turned the religion into child abuse. Julia, on the other hand, never does escape.

Religion in Venice versus religion as practiced at Brideshead. More compare and contrast. As an extension of this, also consider the role that Venice plays more generally. Additionally, there is Sebastian and Julia's father's deathbed conversion to consider.

3: What does Charles Ryder want?
This is a very important question. His relationship to each member of the Marchmain family deserves individual attention. Was he really in love with Julia or was he really just enamored of Brideshead and the aristocratic life? Why does his relationship with the family end up becoming destructive? Consider Blanche's statement that while he initially thought that Charles was the lamb being led to the slaughterhouse, it turned out to be the other way around. Why does he give Sebastian the money to buy alcohol?

4: The role of the setting.
In A Midsummer Night's Dream, wandering into the woods provides an opportunity for the nature of all of the character's relationships to change tempestuously. When Othello, in the play of the same name, reaches Cyprus, the world comes crashing down around his ears. When any fairy tale character enters the woods, you know that reality has been left behind. This is also true in Brideshead. Consider how the film changes in each of these settings: Charles Ryder's home, Oxford, Brideshead, Venice, Morocco, South America, and the ship on which Charles and Julia meet.

I could give you easily a thousand more things to ponder, but the point is this:

Watch this film. Open every pore to it and let it sink in. Mull over it. Breathe it in. But most of all, enjoy it for what it is: a beautiful film that it may not even be possible to understand. That doesn't matter. It doesn't need to be understood intellectually. It needs to be felt.