Review of Brideshead Revisited (2008) by Howard J — 24 Aug 2008

Evelyn Waugh's novel resonated with me more than any other story I've read. Hardly a week has gone by in the past three years since I've read it that I don't ponder some aspect of it. More than any other story, Brideshead understands guilt as the most tender and tortuous of emotions and succeeds in demonstrating how both guilt and desire work in similar ways to destroy individuals who give in entirely to either, or both, for that matter.

The film remains faithful to the novel, for the most part, and that is its strength as well as its weakness, for in preserving the novel's narrative, the film fully upholds all of Waugh's themes, yet it also remains faithful to several of the limitations imposed upon Waugh by the standards of his 1940s society, while a 21st century adaptation of the novel and update of the BBC mini-series seems almost obligated to more clearly chronicle the relationship between Charles and Sebastian without Waugh's necessary hesitations.

Nevertheless, this is fine, fine filmmaking on the most lavish scale, and deserves to stand as a classic contribution to British cinema, costume dramas, and period pieces. There likely won't be another film like it for years.