One of the finest miniseries ever produced, Brideshead Revisited celebrates its thirtieth anniversary with a three disc Blu-ray set from Acorn Media. Based on the 1945 novel by Evelyn Waugh, the eleven part mini-series won several awards and is considered by many to be one of the best television shows of all time.
In 1944 Britain, Charles Ryder (Jeremy Irons) is a depressed Army officer given the task of moving his brigade headquarters to a magnificent castle called Brideshead, the former home of the Marchmain family. Upon his arrival, Charles is taken back to a time in his youth, 1922 to be exact, and the time he spent there with his beloved friend Sebastian Marchmain (Anthony Andrews). Bittersweet memories of long-lost summer days reveling in the splendors of Brideshead, and the intense, platonic, love he shared with Sebastian come flooding back to Charles.
Arriving at Oxford in 1922, middle class Charles is a rather shy, reserved student. He finds himself immediately intrigued by the sight of Sebastian Flyte, a wealthy, foppish Lord, stunning in white tweeds and never without his constant companion Aloysius—his teddy bear. Despite an inauspicious introduction (a drunken Sebastian vomits in the open window of Charles’ first-floor housing), the two begin a friendship that quickly takes up much of hteir time. An incredible trip to Venice, on the dime of Sebastian’s father, Lord Marchmain (Laurence Olivier), who lives in Italy with his mistress Cara (Stephane Audran) in order to escape the limiting Catholic requirements of his wife, Lady Marchmain (Claire Bloom), proves to be such an eye opener that the boys feel a big let down when they return to Oxford in the fall. However, once they do return to school, there are big problems to face as Sebastian spirals further and further into drunkenness. Sebastian is deeply troubled; a psychologically tortured young man. Despite his love, and unwavering support for Sebastian, Charles is unable to reach him.
It doesn’t help that Charles is becoming increasingly involved with the rest of Sebastian’s family. Sebastian loathes his mother, a controlling woman who’s taken Charles under her wing, largely to have someone report Sebastian’s every move to her. This double cross of sorts breaks Sebastian’s heart, and the two drift apart. Charles moves to Paris to take a stab at a career as a painter; Sebastian, saddled with his keeper/social climber (John Gallo) is forced to travel to various exotic locales around the world. Charles, meanwhile, meets with Rex Mottram (Charles Keating), the vaguely sinister businessman and gambler who is engaged to Sebastian’s sister, Julia Marchmain (Diana Quick). Back in England in 1926, Charles returns to Brideshead where Julia informs him that Lady Marchmain is dying. She asks him to fetch Sebastian from Morocco, where he has taken up residence. Charles travels to Fez, shocked to find his old friend to sick from alcoholism to return home. He is also shocked to find Sebastian living with a very violent German soldier. Realizing Sebastian is a lost cause, Charles returns to England, where his painting career gets a serious boost after he paints some oils of Sebastian and Julia’s brother Bridey (Simon Jones). In the midst of a failing marriage, Charles happens to meet Julia on a transatlantic crossing. The two fall in love, and make plans to marry. But, will they live happily ever after once Lord Marchmain comes home to Brideshead in his final days?
This 1.33:1, 1080i transfer isn’t as good as I might’ve hoped. Taken from the original broadcast print instead of the original negative, the image looks a bit soft throughout, with a light layer of grain. The level of detail is never what you would call pristine, with dome smudges around the edges. Colors look a bit washed out at times, never really reaching vibrant levels. I noticed several instances of dirt and debris as well. Unfortunately, this edition is only slightly better than the 2006 standard DVD.
Brideshead Revisted’s Dolby 2.0 mix is adequate but nothing special. Dialogue is clear for the most part but it does sound occasionally muffled. Geoffrey Burgon’s well known score comes across quite a bit louder than the rest of the movie. This is a front channel mix only with no activity for the surround channels.
There’s a solid slate of special features:
- Revisiting Brideshead (47:43) A 2006 documentary featuring interviews with Jeremy Irons, Anthony Andrews, Diana Quick, director Charles Sturridge, and others. They discuss the complicated production and the series’ reception.
- Four Episode Commentaries Episode centric commentaries with stars Jeremy Irons, Diana Quick, and Nickolas Grace on episode one; Anthony Andrews and producer Derek Granger on episode four; and some new alternate commentaries with director Sturridge and Granger for episodes one and eleven respectively. The best one is the first one with Irons, Quick, and Grace which is quite funny. There’s also a lot of information regarding the making of the series across all of these commentaries.
- Brideshead Remembered A forty minute retrospective commentary that plays over a photo gallery by the show’s first director Michael Lindsay Hogg who had to leave the show when strikes interrupted the shooting of the series because he had a previous commitment.
- Photo galleries for each episode
- Outtakes (10:00). I can’t image the bill for all of the champagne that is dumped and wasted during the filming of this show. They all look like they had a lot of fun on this and the last show includes more silly string that I’ve ever seen in one place.
- Production notes
- Cast and crew biographies and filmographies
- Plus a 20-page companion guide
