He Knew He Was Right
May. 28th, 2006 09:07 pmI watched the first half of He Knew He Was Right this evening (saving the rest for tomorrow...or perhaps later tonight). Hee! So amusing! Mostly it's the excessive schadenfreude that's funny (David Tennant's expression and that little, squeaky "Camilla?" was just fantastic), although I'm also totally in love with the crazy old spinster aunt. She cracks me up. I like how she admits her mistakes, too; she's not a one-dimensional Mrs. Kravitz. I am so going to turn into her when I'm an old spinster--well, with less gossip, perhaps.
The trick of having the characters bemoan their current circumstances to the camera is great. DT walking by the cathedral whining about how Dorothy is a wonderful girl with or without £2000...all right, better with, was highly entertaining.
I've not read any Trollope (meant to get around to it last year, since he set several of his novels in Exeter, but never managed it), but he certainly strikes me as akin to my other favorite Victorian, Thomas Hardy. Although I think the amusement from Hardy is that he's secretly laughing at his very serious characters as he puts them in horrible situations; Trollope is more of a satirist, and lets his characters do some of the laughing as well. Plus, there's mocking of Victorian social mores. From a Victorian. Love. (I love the Victorian era; much of that is for its utter mockability. Good lord, just look at the skirts! The muttonchop sideburns! The top hats! Prime mocking material!)
The main plot is less interesting than the secondary ones (Gibson and the French sisters; Nora and her journalist beau, which is just very sweet), but I think that's because it's about the two straightmen characters compared with all the funny ones. Although Laura Fraser is still ethereally beautiful, and very good at the whole wide-eyed-innocent thing. I do enjoy her acting. I smell a comeuppance coming for that twat she calls her husband, of course; what else would you expect?
Hey, it's Anna-Louise Plowman and her atrocious American accent again! Why does the BBC consider her adept at those roles? Ow. Does anyone else find her rather wooden? I've noticed this in Doctor Who and SG-1, as well as in this mini. Sigh. But her Vivien Leigh impression was pretty funny--sadly, I'm not sure it was intentional...
Ooooh, they filmed at Stourhead! It looks much better on a bright summer day than on a dreary afternoon in October.
And ooooooooh, pretty costumes and sets. Naturally. I kind of want to make myself a straw bonnet if only so I can have all that pretty ribbon on it.
ETA: Okay, maybe I'm not going to be that particular spinster aunt. Hmm. Also, my @#$%*&^(#&!@*(@(&@(%&(@^%(! tape cut out only about an hour and fifteen minutes into the second part, just as we first see Sir Marmaduke and family in the Swiss Alps. Gaaaah!!! Maybe PBS will air it again sometime. Or I suppose I could go read the book...
The trick of having the characters bemoan their current circumstances to the camera is great. DT walking by the cathedral whining about how Dorothy is a wonderful girl with or without £2000...all right, better with, was highly entertaining.
I've not read any Trollope (meant to get around to it last year, since he set several of his novels in Exeter, but never managed it), but he certainly strikes me as akin to my other favorite Victorian, Thomas Hardy. Although I think the amusement from Hardy is that he's secretly laughing at his very serious characters as he puts them in horrible situations; Trollope is more of a satirist, and lets his characters do some of the laughing as well. Plus, there's mocking of Victorian social mores. From a Victorian. Love. (I love the Victorian era; much of that is for its utter mockability. Good lord, just look at the skirts! The muttonchop sideburns! The top hats! Prime mocking material!)
The main plot is less interesting than the secondary ones (Gibson and the French sisters; Nora and her journalist beau, which is just very sweet), but I think that's because it's about the two straightmen characters compared with all the funny ones. Although Laura Fraser is still ethereally beautiful, and very good at the whole wide-eyed-innocent thing. I do enjoy her acting. I smell a comeuppance coming for that twat she calls her husband, of course; what else would you expect?
Hey, it's Anna-Louise Plowman and her atrocious American accent again! Why does the BBC consider her adept at those roles? Ow. Does anyone else find her rather wooden? I've noticed this in Doctor Who and SG-1, as well as in this mini. Sigh. But her Vivien Leigh impression was pretty funny--sadly, I'm not sure it was intentional...
Ooooh, they filmed at Stourhead! It looks much better on a bright summer day than on a dreary afternoon in October.
And ooooooooh, pretty costumes and sets. Naturally. I kind of want to make myself a straw bonnet if only so I can have all that pretty ribbon on it.
ETA: Okay, maybe I'm not going to be that particular spinster aunt. Hmm. Also, my @#$%*&^(#&!@*(@(&@(%&(@^%(! tape cut out only about an hour and fifteen minutes into the second part, just as we first see Sir Marmaduke and family in the Swiss Alps. Gaaaah!!! Maybe PBS will air it again sometime. Or I suppose I could go read the book...
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