Brideshead Revisited

There are two inspired performances in the center of this uneven and misguided motion picture.  The first is that of the great Emma Thompson who plays Lady Marchmain.  She is a strict catholic woman who has been deemed a saint by her priest.  She believes that life revolves around god's will and essentially the film is about her corruption of her children and their ultimate downfall because of their Catholic faith.  Thompson plays that lady in question perfectly with quiet understated authority.  It's one of the best roles she's had in years, and it's a shame really because the film does not give her nearly enough screen time, though Thompson can say more with a simple stare than anymore pages of dialogue would have ever given her.  If the film would have relied on her a bit more, perhaps it would have seemed more even handed, or perhaps not.  The other performance of note in the film is that of Ben Whishaw playing Sebastian Flyte, the Lady's son.  Sebastian happens to be a homosexual and a rather flamboyant one at that, but is constantly reprimanded for his actions by his over protective mother.  Sebastian's flamboyant demeanor is all show as throughout the course of the film we come to realize he is a tortured individual battling many demons, the worst of which is his mother.  Whishaw gives the character a sympathetic and believable arc.  He starts the picture as a typical gay character and at first we believe him to be playing a caricature, but that's really the point.  He plays the part of his elegant lifestyle.  But as the film progresses and we begin to see the inner struggles of Sebastian we begin to care for him even as he drowns himself in alcohol eventually turning him into an emotional and physical cripple.  Whishaw's performance is possibly the most complex in the film  and he pulls it off marvelously.  The main problem with Brideshead Revisited comes once Sebastian has left the screen... you are left with no one to care about.  The lead character certainly leaves something to be desired as Charles Ryder, played by Mathew Goode, is simply a passive observer in all of these strange events.  He falls in love with Sebastian's sister, though Sebastian himself is in love with Charles.  Charles uses this people to live a life that he has never known, and by the time the third act roles around and Charles has found his own wealth, I was left wondering... why bother?  The story I was interested in was over because the only person I cared about in the film had left long ago.  

The beginning of Brideshead Revisted moves along at incredible speed as if the film isn't sure of itself and simply wants to get to the "meat" of the story.  It's a clumsy first act, we meet people who are never fully explained and this disappear for the rest of the picture.  The editing is fast and often times abrupt.  And the score gets in the way quite often as we are supposed to be feeling one thing, but the music is telling us something different entirely.  That being said, the second act of Brideshead is phenomenally well done and its a shame that the rest of the picture couldn't have been as intriguing.  Goode does a decent job with his character and whats been given to him on the page, but unfortunately the character is simply unlikeable.  We never really get to know him even though we spend the entire films running time beside Charles.  The ending of the film really plays up the religious angle, but at the end I was left wondering what the point of it all was.  The children's lives are essentially destroyed because of their mothers religious beliefs that she instilled in them from birth, but the end of the film seems to suggest that Charles himself may have ended up finding God.  Or, that at least there was some kind of understanding between him and the religion that killed his friendships and relationship.  It's all a big mixed bag at the end of the film, with no clear message or reasoning.  What exactly becomes of Charles Ryder?  We never find out and that is the films ultimate flaw.  It wants us to care for an individual who essentially has no personality or desires worth mentioning.  Does he love Sebastian's sister, or does he just love Brideshead?  Perhaps there are no answers.  Brideshead Revisited is worth seeing for the two performances mentioned at the beginning of the post and for the films visually arresting and perfectly paced second act.  The rest of the film is forgettable, which is a shame really because there was great talent involved.