Brideshead Revised, Rewritten, and Ruined?

John Walsh of The Independent has an intriguing piece about the growing controversy over the upcoming cinematic version of Brideshead Revisited, which stars Emma Thompson and is due out this fall from BBC Films:

This autumn, a film of Brideshead is released for the first time, a   predictably ravishing, dreamy, aristocratic swoon of a movie, directed by   Julian Jarrold. It stars Matthew Goode as Charles, Ben Whishaw as Sebastian,   Hayley Atwell as Julia, Emma Thompson as Lady Marchmain and Michael Gambon   as her errant husband. Fans of the book who cannot wait for its release in   October should check out the trailer on YouTube, where they'll find some   remarkable differences from the book.

First, Sebastian and Julia appear to be conducting an incestuous relationship   that becomes a ménage a trois with Charles. Second, Julia shows up, under a   parasol, in the Venice scenes. Third, Lady Marchmain seems concerned only   with marrying off her daughter to the cluelessly non-Catholic Rex. Fourth,   there's a wildly misconceived strand of sexual intrigue, most fatuously when   Lord Marchmain leans back on a sofa with one arm around a coquettish Julia   and the other around a pouting Sebastian and twinkles at Charles with the   words: "What a lot of temptation..." Fifth, the religious theme is   hinted at only by a dropped crucifix. Sixth, Sebastian shouts: "You   never wanted me – you used me to get to my sister!" (In the book,   by the time Charles and Julia get it together at sea, Sebastian has vanished   into alcoholism and a monastery in Morocco.)

All this is shocking for Waugh purists. The message board on the IMDb website   is a-twitter with denunciations by Waugh fans. "Andrew Davies needs a   reality check," reads one. "And a slap in the face like he's given   to Evelyn Waugh by turning his masterpiece into a cheap romantic farce."

Read the entire piece. View the movie's trailer on YouTube.

Comments

[Augustine II]

The breakdown continues....

[Augustine II]

The breakdown continues....

[Thomas]

I "discovered" Waugh a couple years ago and I plowed through all his books that remain in print (except, The Sword of Honor trilogy which I'll save for a rainy day). No book will ever supplant THE LORD OF THE RINGS for me, but BRIDESHEAD REVISITED immediately shot up to #2.

When I heard about this movie last year I was pumped. Then I heard rumblings that it would only be about Charles and Julia's relationship and I was a bit disappointed but still relatively excited to see at least a movie on the second half of the book.

This latest news is a real letdown. I will not see it. I don't want my memory of the book to be tainted and confused.

For anyone who hasn't read Evelyn Waugh yet, take my humble, yet emphatic, recommendation.

[Kyle R. Cupp]

Watched the trailer. Ick. I think I'll stick with the book and the Jeremy Irons film version.

[Mark Brumley]

Saw the trailer. Brideshead Revised looks ridiculous.

[Augustine II]

I can't imagine anyone liking this who's read the book or seen the original film version. But in the Brave New World, there are many who haven't, and that's who they're targeting.

[Stephen]

Well this: "Fifth, the religious theme is hinted at only by a dropped crucifix" is plain wrong. There is a dropped ROSARY (noticeably lacking a crucifix) in the trailer and there is also a scene with Julia clearly making the sign of the cross in what is certainly hinted to be a Catholic Church ("a life he never imagined"). Not sure where they get the "incestuous relationship" from, except in that typical American Puritanism that sees sex in any physical contact or intimacy (such as the twins embracing at the beach.)

And of course Julia is in Venice, because if you are going to get any of your cast to Venice (as they have done) then you might as well get ALL of them there if possible, especially your romantic leads.

That being said, I have no doubt that they'll butcher the novel, but that's what 85% of movies based on books do, so we oughtn't be too surprised, ought we? Hopefully, it's also a good movie.