There is one word that can be used to describe the HBO/BBC miniseries Parade's End: lush. Set in Edwardian England as World War I descends upon Europe, it features a bewildering parade of wealthy socialites, earnest soldiers, greedy social-climbers, and idealistic ingenues. While some are laughing in their lavish estates, others are struggling to stay alive in filthy trenches. And sociopolitical machinations abound, from the movements of soldiers and generals to the movements of husbands and wives. The incomparable playwright Tom Stoppard has whittled down a tetralogy of novels by Ford Madox Ford into this five-episode miniseries that is steeped in beauty, humor, and Englishness.
At the center of this vast story is Christopher Tietjens (Benedict Cumberbatch doing some of his best work to date), a remarkably intelligent statistician who holds a staunch view of what it means to be an Englishman of standing when most of his fellows have rejected such antiquated notions. The stiff upper lip, upright posture, and plummy accent tell you all you need to know about this man. He is tricked into marrying a dazzling socialite, Sylvia Satterthwaite (the amazing Rebbeca Hall), who is pregnant, but perhaps not with his child. Their marriage is intolerable, but Tietjens believes it is his duty to carry on the facade. Sylvia has no such compunction and carries on affairs with multiple men, even running away with one just to see how much grief she can cause Christopher. Their relationship is twisted and brutal, and no one quite understands it, not even the two of them.
Enter Valentine Wannop (the beguiling Adelaide Clemens), a young suffragette who crosses paths with Christopher and seems to be his soulmate. The two share an instant connection, and as Valentine later puts it, their every word to each other is like a "declaration of love." While their relationship remains purely chaste, rumors abound about the pair, and Sylvia finds herself getting jealous. Then World War I arrives, Christopher is whisked away into battle, and romantic entanglements are (very) temporarily set aside.
The war scenes are grim yet tinged with characteristic wry British humor. There are bluff generals, alcoholic colonels, tea and sandwiches in the middle of a bombing, and a competition over writing a sonnet in two minutes and then translating it into Latin hexameter in three and a half; class divides do not falter just because one is at war. However, Tietjens cannot benefit from his elite background owing to various black marks against his name courtesy of his wife's former lovers. He is a decent man, intelligent and brave, and he refuses to kowtow to societal pressures. Instead, he is fixated on doing his duty and seeing his way through this ghastly war.
What I've described is a mere sliver of what ensues in the five episodes of this miniseries. The story follows several characters whose fortunes rise and fall through the years, and the cast is made up of British stalwarts like Rupert Everett, Miranda Richardson, Janet McTeer, Rufus Sewell, and more. The central love triangle between Christopher, Sylvia, and Valentine is both epic and intimate and will keep you on tenterhooks until the finale. Parade's End is a very human and engaging account of this moment in history, and is nothing short of a television masterpiece.
The series concluded its run on the BBC in September and will be available on DVD later this month. It is slated to air on HBO in 2013, so you have something to look forward to if you'd rather wait. I already predict it will add multiple awards to HBO's ever-expanding collection.
At the center of this vast story is Christopher Tietjens (Benedict Cumberbatch doing some of his best work to date), a remarkably intelligent statistician who holds a staunch view of what it means to be an Englishman of standing when most of his fellows have rejected such antiquated notions. The stiff upper lip, upright posture, and plummy accent tell you all you need to know about this man. He is tricked into marrying a dazzling socialite, Sylvia Satterthwaite (the amazing Rebbeca Hall), who is pregnant, but perhaps not with his child. Their marriage is intolerable, but Tietjens believes it is his duty to carry on the facade. Sylvia has no such compunction and carries on affairs with multiple men, even running away with one just to see how much grief she can cause Christopher. Their relationship is twisted and brutal, and no one quite understands it, not even the two of them.
Enter Valentine Wannop (the beguiling Adelaide Clemens), a young suffragette who crosses paths with Christopher and seems to be his soulmate. The two share an instant connection, and as Valentine later puts it, their every word to each other is like a "declaration of love." While their relationship remains purely chaste, rumors abound about the pair, and Sylvia finds herself getting jealous. Then World War I arrives, Christopher is whisked away into battle, and romantic entanglements are (very) temporarily set aside.The war scenes are grim yet tinged with characteristic wry British humor. There are bluff generals, alcoholic colonels, tea and sandwiches in the middle of a bombing, and a competition over writing a sonnet in two minutes and then translating it into Latin hexameter in three and a half; class divides do not falter just because one is at war. However, Tietjens cannot benefit from his elite background owing to various black marks against his name courtesy of his wife's former lovers. He is a decent man, intelligent and brave, and he refuses to kowtow to societal pressures. Instead, he is fixated on doing his duty and seeing his way through this ghastly war.
What I've described is a mere sliver of what ensues in the five episodes of this miniseries. The story follows several characters whose fortunes rise and fall through the years, and the cast is made up of British stalwarts like Rupert Everett, Miranda Richardson, Janet McTeer, Rufus Sewell, and more. The central love triangle between Christopher, Sylvia, and Valentine is both epic and intimate and will keep you on tenterhooks until the finale. Parade's End is a very human and engaging account of this moment in history, and is nothing short of a television masterpiece.
The series concluded its run on the BBC in September and will be available on DVD later this month. It is slated to air on HBO in 2013, so you have something to look forward to if you'd rather wait. I already predict it will add multiple awards to HBO's ever-expanding collection.
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