Author rating: 3/5
The visit of the English royalty to the castle of an aristocratic family in Yorkshire reopens ancient disagreements and conflicts between the various levels of the building: the upper floor where the nobles live and the lower one where the servants work. Downtown Abbey, signed by the English director Michael Engler, with a significant television experience is the film that closes the very happy series which was broadcast with great success first in Great Britain and, with some surprise, in the United States and in the rest of the world. The cinematographic history is all contained in the short period of time during which, in 1927, the King of England, George V and his wife went on a courtesy visit to the sumptuous home of the Grantham family. Different souls coexist inside it, separate worlds that find themselves sharing the common destiny of a system destined to change profoundly. Or maybe not.
The story takes place in a period of great changes: in Europe, after the First World War, the ghosts of Nazism and fascism are approaching; the ancient aristocracies that governed the continent no longer seem capable of withstanding the political tension and are sensing the scent of a new era in which their role could be radically reduced. Downstairs in the castle, where the servants live and work, first personal tensions (love intrigues) and then political tensions hover which sees loyalty to the crown on one side and the republican temptation (the Irish question) on the other. The two worlds formally communicate with each other and they have the same goal in common: to try to survive the new advances. The story will see everyone happily ever after, at least in sophisticated and formal appearances.
In order, some observations. First of all techniques: everything is wonderfully reconstructed in an impeccable way, the attention to detail is extremely meticulous and undoubtedly fascinating. The British are masters at this job. To find something similar in our cinema it is necessary to remember The Leopard by Luchino Visconti: the dance scene is almost superimposable. The acting is no different: you immediately feel a high-level school both for the main protagonists and for the extras and supporting actors. The writing is cultured and refined, although always oriented towards one side of the story: as if the two worlds spoke different languages. Witty and sophisticated upstairs, rough and essential downstairs.
Instead, as regards the nature, the essence, of the film there are many perplexities. Certainly, the television success is sufficient to silence many critical observations: the public "could" always be right and to become one of the most followed series in the world there will also be many good reasons (the series has won many awards: Emmy, Golden Globe) . Certainly the logic of intrigue is rewarded, of the conflict, of the tension for power that has always fascinated so much history and so much literature. The segmented narrative dimension, interspersed and broken up in space and time, typical of serial productions is the hallmark of the contemporary audiovisual world. Cinema, however, is something else.
First of all, it presupposes a finished story, with its own plot, with its beginning and its conclusion (except being able to foresee and anticipate a possible sequel). In this case (having not seen any episode of the television series) we have to be satisfied with what the "castle" passes: a light cinematic show, without infamy and without praise, a product intended for disposable use on the big screen, does not add and does not detract from what has already been seen in many films of the genre. Our Leopard, 1963, anticipated everything by almost half a century. With the while to this original, hard to find better.
