I don't know, maybe because I heard a lot about this film made me have high hopes. Too high it seems. The movie isn't bad, but it's too short, told to quickly, you get the feeling that the director was in a hurry to catch a plane or something. That's the biggest minus, well, that after the music. In this movie there is either no music at all, or it suddenly appears and gives the viewer a earache.
Little spoiler I suppose, but read it if you wanna keep your ear drums in one piece: The music in the opening scene, when the beginning credits start, hits you suddenly in such a volume, like the creators wanted to fix the viewers up deaf.
end of spoiler I don't know if it was the quality of the DVD or not, but visually you it's not too capturing, like in the case of characterization - budget cuts on wigs that everyone had such mousy, thin hair or something? Some costumes, don't fit the time period. And the camera work leaves a few wishes. That were the minuses, now the pluses.
The pluses are, that when the story screenplay is chopped up at least the dialogs try to keep up. A few laughs guaranteed, out of Aunt Susan and "galloping" Major Chevening mostly. Unfortunately I can't say that I enjoyed the performance of the main characters - all ms. Friel - Flora does here is sighing, being a cold fish and completely unconvincing. Mr. Barr - Jaques St. Ives is suppose to be a boyish Casanova that suddenly changes and falls deeply in love in a fair maiden - but why don't I see that love? First he was dull and pretended to be a Casanova, then he became dull and pretended to be in love - no success in either version. And then there is mr. Isaacs - Alain St. Ives, well clearly he tries to do something with his role, but doesn't have too much of an occasion to do it, he appears in 7 scenes from what I counted and they were short. A pity as he's capable of stealing the show if he has an occasion for it - unfortunately here he didn't get it. Frankly, I have a feeling that his acting was the only thing that made his character tolerable, because the construction of the role seemed horribly shallow.
Pretty much it and comparing this film to classics with Errol Flynn is too much of a complement for it. It in no way holds the climate you can find for example in the classical "The Sea Hawk" from 1940. I'll give it a 6 on 10 for ms. Richardson and mr. Grant.
Little spoiler I suppose, but read it if you wanna keep your ear drums in one piece: The music in the opening scene, when the beginning credits start, hits you suddenly in such a volume, like the creators wanted to fix the viewers up deaf.
end of spoiler I don't know if it was the quality of the DVD or not, but visually you it's not too capturing, like in the case of characterization - budget cuts on wigs that everyone had such mousy, thin hair or something? Some costumes, don't fit the time period. And the camera work leaves a few wishes. That were the minuses, now the pluses.
The pluses are, that when the story screenplay is chopped up at least the dialogs try to keep up. A few laughs guaranteed, out of Aunt Susan and "galloping" Major Chevening mostly. Unfortunately I can't say that I enjoyed the performance of the main characters - all ms. Friel - Flora does here is sighing, being a cold fish and completely unconvincing. Mr. Barr - Jaques St. Ives is suppose to be a boyish Casanova that suddenly changes and falls deeply in love in a fair maiden - but why don't I see that love? First he was dull and pretended to be a Casanova, then he became dull and pretended to be in love - no success in either version. And then there is mr. Isaacs - Alain St. Ives, well clearly he tries to do something with his role, but doesn't have too much of an occasion to do it, he appears in 7 scenes from what I counted and they were short. A pity as he's capable of stealing the show if he has an occasion for it - unfortunately here he didn't get it. Frankly, I have a feeling that his acting was the only thing that made his character tolerable, because the construction of the role seemed horribly shallow.
Pretty much it and comparing this film to classics with Errol Flynn is too much of a complement for it. It in no way holds the climate you can find for example in the classical "The Sea Hawk" from 1940. I'll give it a 6 on 10 for ms. Richardson and mr. Grant.