Matcollis This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

Comwayon A Disappointing Continuation

Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Lidia Draper Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

selffamily I have not enjoyed a mini series or anything (come to think of it) as well as I have enjoyed this. Thoroughly addictive, with absorbing characters and compelling plot, I could not stop watching it. Our hero was one to make women of his era swoon, and his honourable behaviour was obviously too much for some viewers to comprehend. His wife, charming, manipulative and adorable, was so beautiful and so naughty that it was impossible to take one's eyes off her. The young would-be mistress was a joy. The other characters are too numerous to name, but there was not a weak link in the whole production. (For those who found accents hard to understand: try harder. We have listened to accents with difficulty from all over the American states, but without subtitles. You really must get out more.) the language was perfect for the era, as opposed to certain other series where it has been dumbed down and modernised for today's viewers. This is the authentic stuff, and is lovely and ... I could go on for hours. Loved every second.

malmborgimplano-92-599820 The news that Mr. and Mrs. Benedict Cumberbatch have named their son Christopher made me automatically think "Yay! They named him after Chrissy Tietjens!" Which they probably didn't. But Chrissy is a worthy namesake, a modest, virtuous and capable man who represents everything that the English aristocracy is supposed to stand for-- which is why his fellow aristocrats, especially his sleazy wife Sylvia, resent him with such insane violence. It's also one of Benedict's best screen roles--the quintessential Cumberbatchian eccentric genius, you could say, though really there's no such thing, Benedict being one of those actors who creates a new character each time rather than just doing the same thing in part after part (which he's been accused of doing by people who saw him in "Sherlock" or "Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan" and just don't see what all the fuss is about.)I've seen this series twice now, once when it was new and again after reading Ford Madox Ford's "Parade's End" cycle of novels, and I think that the only thing that prevented this TV adaptation from being successful was the decision to basically falsify Ford's original conception of Sylvia, changing her from the sadistic personality-disordered monster she is in the novels (among other things, she beats a dog to death, terrorizes her child, and tries to trample her ex-husband's pregnant wife with a horse) to just a poor little rich girl who's sulky and irritable because she doesn't have enough to do. That's how Rebecca Hall plays her, and though her performance is one of the few things people liked about this series, it irritates me so much that I mostly fast-forwarded through her bits the second time through. A friend of mine who loves "Downton Abbey" felt personally insulted by Benedict for a comment he made about "Parade's End" being more serious than that. Well, I avoided "Downton" for the reason that it just looked like more landed gentry porn to me (I didn't tell my friend this) and I like this series because it's so intelligent and authentic and non-pandering (aside from the ponification of Sylvia.)

Vicki Hopkins Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch (yes, that's his full name) has been busy. Between filming episodes of Sherlock Holmes, he worked elsewhere starring in this interesting and entertaining series entitled Parade's End. The story is based on a series of novels by Ford Maddox Ford.Benedict plays the character of Christopher Tietjens in five episodes. After one indiscretion, his life takes an unexpected turn when he meets a woman on a train. She seduces him, and they end up copulating quite wildly in their private quarters. He deposits his seed into Sylvia on a one-train stand and ends up marrying her after she declares the child in her pregnant womb belongs to him. The entire affair is questionable because of her many lovers, but Christoper does what he does best--the right and proper thing.He is not a man that is necessarily well liked and is socially awkward. The relationship with his family members is poor, he's the object of gossip, and appears to have trouble communicating his feelings. However, he is intelligent, and works at the Imperial Department of Statistics crunching numbers. In his spare time, he reads the encyclopedia and jots down corrections to the content in the sidelines of the book.Sylvia, on the other hand, is quite the opposite. She's not exactly the stellar wife. To her shame she parties, flirts with men, and ends up having an extramarital affair. She blames her motives for living on the wild side on Christopher, who is the picture of perfection. She loathes him and his values, and is determined to destroy him one way or the other. In fact, she seems to treat all her men with disdain. When she leaves Christoper for another man because she's bored, abandoning even her son, Christopher keeps the proverbial stiff upper lip and parades before society, friends, and family that all is well. He refuses to divorce, because he's a good Catholic. You just don't do those things. You bear it. Live with it. And parade onward.However, during his wife's escapades with another man, Christopher meets Valentine Wannop, played by Adelaide Clemens. She is young, intelligent, and a suffragette. It's one of those love at first sight moments for the two of them. Unfortunately, he's too proper to do anything about it even though they keep running into each other exchanging heartfelt glances and having pleasant conversation. When they are not in each other presence, they daydream of being lovers, but Christopher cannot cross that line.Eventually, Sylvia returns to Christopher, after having a spot of remorse. She turns to religion, though you don't believe there's an ounce of purity in her conniving mind.World War I breaks out, and the series takes a diversion toward wartime and life in the trenches. However, during this period of time, Christopher begins to change for the better. He becomes a stronger man who leads, and finally realizes that times are changing. It's no longer necessary to parade around as if life is peachy and all can be handled. The parade has ended, and he needs to do what is right for him as an individual--even if that means making immoral choices in order to find love and happiness.It's a fairly good series, and you'll find that Benedict is not the Sherlock Holmes you know. The portrayal of this character is vastly different, but also extremely convincing and well done. He looks rather dashing in his military uniform with blond hair. You'll also enjoy the Edwardian fashions worn by Sylvia, the manipulating wife.Parade's End is streaming on Amazon Prime for free. You might want to check it out. Only negative point is that I don't seem to be the only one complaining that you cannot understand what is being said about 10% of the time. Sometimes Benedict talks very fast, and it's difficult to catch the words with that thick British accent. On the other hand, it just might be poor sound quality on behalf of the producers of this film.

Jennifer Leigh The costumes and sets are the only things going for this awful miniseries. One might compare it to a poorly written Downtown Abbey with better costumes. I was so disappointed by this series. It had so much potential, great acting and a lot of hype, but the script totally let me down. The plot and timeline were horribly ambiguous. significant events were either totally left out, or completely brushed over and you were expected to understand what had occurred without any explanation. There were too many unexplained loose ends which made the overall series painful to and frustrating to watch. Half the time I couldn't follow the dialogue at all because it jumped around, and you were expected to read between the lines of what was being said. But unlike a novel, you cannot hear the inner thoughts of characters and as such, are not privy to the themes running behind what is actually being said. The lines were brilliantly delivered by the cast, but even the most skilled of actors cannot overcome a sub par script. The only other thing that can be said of this mini series is that the sexual frustration of all characters was likely due to the fact that nobody had any idea of what was going on ever. Oh, and they made Valentine incredibly annoying. She could have been awesome, but came across as a naive, whiny, self absorbed would-be suffragette chasing after a married man she was "in love with" after one night in the mist. Laughable.