Review of Downton Abbey (2019) by Filipeneto — 17 Feb 2020

A good job, which honors the original series.

After an excellent TV series, Downton Abbey finally arrives at the cinema, after much insistence from the fans. The film maintains a lot of the series and resembles an extended episode. So, I'm not going to go into too much, I think the criticism I made for the series is perfectly suited for this film.

The film takes up the story where the series ended in the late Twenties and revolves around a visit by the Royal Family to the Yorkshire region, where they will sleep and have a big dinner at the Crawley family mansion. For them, it is undoubtedly a moment of great anxiety and prestige, but for their usual servants, it will certainly be a headache and involve immense work, which everyone is happy to accept given the prospect of being able, in fact, serve the kings of your country. But as the Royal Family travels with a vast entourage of servers, the task will not be easy.

The cast that marked the series is back, both in the salons and on the service floors. I will excuse myself to nominate the actors, but I believe that they are excellent and deserve all the recognition that they had with this work of perfect historical recreation. Yes, because if there is one thing that is notorious in this film, as well as in the series, it is the care and attention to details and in the reconstruction of the time and the environments that were portrayed. Of course, the use of good filming locations helped to make the series (and the film) more realistic and authentic, and there is no doubt that Highclere Castle, the house used to bring Downton Abbey to life and, in real life, belongs to the Lord Carnarvon, you are perfect for that.

In addition to the excellent sets and costumes, the film has excellent production values: a very competent photograph with pleasant colors, a remarkable soundtrack imported from the original series, a good job of filming and editing.

The script, in addition to a good story, adds some developments to the personal history of the characters we've been following since 1912: this was probably the farewell to Countess Violet, played by Maggie Smith, as well as Carson, the immortal butler who, for the last time, return to activity; Tom Branson looks ready for a new page in his life; Tom Barrow, for his part, is finally a pleasant character and worthy of our sympathy, after an entire series in which he was a villain and made a long journey of atonement. I will not say more, it is best to see the film. Worth it.

Is this the farewell to Downton Abbey? After several seasons on TV, in one of the most addictive and elegant television programs of the decade, and a film full of quality that, certainly, pleased the diehard fans of the series, it is difficult to say. I personally would like to see more, but only if the quality of what comes to match the material already made. I wouldn't want to see Downton Abbey drag on and lose quality just because of fan pressure or industrial interests. There is a correct time to end. But only the future will tell if the Crawley mansion doors will open again for us.