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Category:    Home > Reviews > Drama > British TV > Mini-Series > History > Ireland > Aristocrats (1999/Acorn/BBC)

Aristocrats (1999/Acorn/BBC)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C+     Extras: C+     Episodes: B-

 

 

In yet another story about the rich and powerful being threatened by outside political and military forces, Aristocrats (1999) is a long British mini-series based on Stella Tillyard’s biographical book on the Lennox Sisters and runs almost 300 minutes.  Made in Ireland, it is fair to consider it an off-shoot of the current cycle of Irish Cinema finally telling stories about the country that seemed much harder to tell not that long ago.

 

Harriet O’Carroll’s teleplay is well-rounded enough, while David Caffey single-handedly directs all six parts.  The sisters were part of the power elite; they were daughters of a cabinet minister, great-granddaughter of a king and would marry into more power.  At the time of the 18th Century, they were about to do things that were unthinkable for women, which we could consider pre-feminist and if so, much more than any Jane Austen work.  Closer to The Bronte Sisters’ work, the voice-overs that tell the story in flashback are exactly like a recent Jane Eyre DVD release we looked at where the edge of the story is negated somewhat by that safe distance.  Otherwise, this is an interesting program and fine alternative to the usual Bronte and Austen works.

 

The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is a little soft and colorless throughout, partly from the stylized shooting, as well as from the digital High Definition shooting’s limits.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo is good, but has no major surrounds, though it is clean and clear enough.  Extras include text on the cast, text on Tillyard and a half-hour making-of featurette.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo


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