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‘Downton Abbey’ Review: Back to the Past
From its spectacularly detailed aesthetic to the characters’ march down well-worn personality paths, the movie argues insistently for the status quo.
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‘Downton Abbey’ | Anatomy of a Scene
The director michael engler narrates a sequence from the film..
“I’m Michael Engler, and I directed ‘Downton Abbey.’ At this point in the movie, the king and queen and their retinue have arrived, and they’re staying at Downton. And this is the big banquet dinner that they’re all going to be at together. And the servants at Downton have found out that they won’t be actually serving the king and queen, and the royal staff is going to be serving. And so there’s been this conspiracy to replace them and to restore the glory of Downton by having the staff serve and make dinner for the king and queen.” “Tom, you’re looking pleased with yourself.” “He was just praising Lady Bagshaw’s maid.” “There’s always a certain amount of tension between individual agendas and behavior and then what is expected of one and of the group.” “This is good. I thought something else was planned. But it is excellent. So a well done too old Courbet.” “This wasn’t Monsieur Courbet, Your Majesty. Mrs. Patmore cooked it. In fact, it is the Downton Abbey staff who are serving you this evening.” “That sets it up so that the contrast of when Molesley, who was supposed to be seen and not heard, he speaks up, and all eyes are on him. You know, I wanted these very long, formal, static shots of—” “I do beg your pardon, Your Majesty.” “The people at the table looking at him, try to include as many people as possible so you could see how big a room had been quieted by this and was focused and stilled. But also we played around with, well what shall we do with the score, here? What should it feel like and all that. And then in the end we played the absolute silence except for the light ticking of the clock. Kevin Doyle who plays Molesley is a brilliant actor. And because he is so real and he can play the most dramatic moments, but he is also fearless comically and really, really funny.” “I suppose he’s excited that they’ve had to take over from our people. I wonder what’s happened.” “Whatever may have happened does not excuse his behavior.” “I can assure you, Lady Grantham, we are quite used to people behaving strangely when we are near.” [LAUGHTER]
By Jeannette Catsoulis
“Just like the old days,” Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham (Elizabeth McGovern) says, fondly, as “Downton Abbey” gathers all the familiar faces in bustling preparation for an imminent royal visit. Viewers who have faithfully followed the genteel tribulations of the Crawley clan for six seasons of glittering television will need no encouragement from me to re-immerse themselves in the show’s warm bath of privilege. Those who prefer their ablutions minus the scum of entitlement can safely give this big-screen special a miss.
The old days, of course (the “good” is silent), are what the Downton universe is selling, a magnificently appointed fantasy of benign aristocracy, grateful underlings and noblesse oblige. Picking up in 1927 shortly after the TV show’s finale, the movie finds the household frantically readying for a lavish dinner, a fancy parade and a grand ball in honor of King George V and Queen Mary. Amid the hubbub, Lady Cora dispenses her usual calming looks and soothing advice, still oblivious to her husband’s seeming preference for the company of his dog. Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) continues to fret, but not too much, over the estate’s financial problems. And Violet, the Dowager Countess (the indispensable Maggie Smith) — always the lemon in the soufflé — is scheming to secure a family inheritance.
Below stairs, the Royals’ stuck-up retinue is attempting to supplant the Downton domestics. Daisy (Sophie McShera), the tart kitchen maid, is making eyes at a saucy plumber, and a butler emergency coaxes Carson (Jim Carter), that reliably priggish defender of probity, out of retirement. There’s some petty pilfering, a blink-and-you-miss-it assassination attempt and a bit of bother with a boiler. But it’s all weak tea, with the occasional decorous tilt toward politics (of the Irish-Republican kind) and scandal (of the butler-on-the-down-low kind). This last leads us to a clandestine gay club where a rowdy group of men are deliriously dancing the Black Bottom . It’s easily the movie’s liveliest scene, and the most surprising, not least because the north of England in the 1920s was hardly a gay haven.
With barely enough plot to go around, most characters are served a tiny dollop. Lacking the nutritious story lines of the past, the cross-cultural liaisons and the odd inconvenient corpse in Lady Mary’s bedroom, the movie is mainly empty calories. Yet its screenwriter, Julian Fellowes (who created the TV series), knows his stories have always relied less on words than on the looks — arch and knowing, suspicious and appalled — that ricocheted around every social gathering. Choreographing those is the job of the director, Michael Engler, who stretches each raised eyebrow and pursed lip to big-screen proportions, miraculously without turning every close-up into a cartoon.
From its spectacularly detailed aesthetic to the characters’ march down well-worn personality paths, “Downton Abbey” argues insistently for the status quo. Lady Mary fleetingly questions the future of the aristocracy, only to be reassured — by a servant, mind you — that she and her ilk are not just relevant, but essential. And when the 1926 General Strike is mentioned, it’s solely to allow Violet to quip that her maid was “rather curt” with her at the time. Supporting a class system as rigid as Violet’s spine, the Downton staff are so devoted to their betters that even when they stage a revolution, its purpose is to deny themselves a night off.
You have to admire Fellowes’s ability to turn the sour sauce of oppression and inequality into comfort food. So when Henry Talbot (Matthew Goode) finally sails in, mere minutes before the end credits, to waltz with Lady Mary and assure her that Downton will endure forever, the faithful will likely feel as relieved as she does.
Downton Abbey
Rated PG for men kissing and women keeping secrets. Running time: 2 hours 2 minutes.
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User reviews
Downton Abbey
Do you like downton abbey series.
- valadis-garganis
- Sep 11, 2019
Returning to Downton
- TheLittleSongbird
- May 20, 2020
nice continuation for the fans
- SnoopyStyle
- Dec 12, 2019
If You Loved The Show, You'll Love The Film
- coldfusion9797
- TreasureHunterGirl
Imagine a Downton Abbey TV Episode at Full Throttle
- imdbmovieguy
- Sep 12, 2019
Loved the show, alittle let down by the movie
- Sep 18, 2019
We Want More! We Want More! We Want More!
- susannalchristian
Great High Quality Television Drama ! Magnified ?
A fantastic trip back to a favorite place.
- gdelaney-13583
Good Enough
- PennyReviews
- Sep 16, 2019
Love it! Refreshing Wholesomeness!
Only because i love downton, it's not a 5.
- shar9598-774-160086
- Sep 27, 2019
Disappointing
- carolecooper
- Sep 22, 2019
Full of fun, quick wit & pageantry
- Mainecottage
Beautiful tribute to the show
- Sep 14, 2019
Some wonderful stuff, some awful stuff
- Jan 29, 2020
An amazing continuation
- kayleesmith-51323
- pinkprincessgirl
- Dec 17, 2019
Very good follow up of the tv show
- imdb-ikysmoviedatabase
Disappointed
- jeffreycrippen-28446
- Dec 22, 2019
Excellent ,i did not want it to end
- Sep 13, 2019
It won't work unless you've watched the TV series
- Sep 24, 2019
Profoundly disappointed
- revelstone77
- Sep 25, 2019
- JoBloTheMovieCritic
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