Empires collapse. Life is going on and on and on. If you are some unknown paths carried to the page of this serial film, be sure to watch it - find a free seven hours. Because, even if you are not a fan of Colin Firth, you can easily find someone and what to look at here.
The film is a charm (but do not be embarrassed by such a purely female word), the plot is unusual and very fresh (despite the age of creation, and perhaps because of it), the picture is good and beautiful, the actors are magnificent, and everyone in his place is almost a star.
Young Richard Hercastle (Colin Firth), having lost both parents overnight, was invited by his uncle Nick Allanton to the troupe of the theater-varieta, the head of which he is. The uncle is a man of amazing male charisma, strong will, keeping in unquestioning submission not only the actors of his theater, but also theatrical agents who are honored to cooperate with a star of such magnitude. The actor John Castle, familiar to me from roles in English detectives, coped with this role easily and perfectly - it fit him. And the very image of a domineering, cold-blooded, accustomed to dominating and winning, does not tolerate objections of a male master is very impressive to me. In our time, it is gratifying to look at such a human specimen, and not at the product of the modern “imbalance of yin and yang energies”, which considers the ability to be rude and loose hands as a manifestation of masculinity.
And I must say that the nephew is the main character of the picture, despite all his unlikeness to his uncle, in no way inferior to him. They share not only blood – these people are strong on the ground, they have powerful roots and an iron inner core.
In the months leading up to the First World War, which changed the world forever, Richard is transformed from a simple village boy, innocent and good-natured, with people of different genders, ages and life experiences. And, as you would expect, this character Colin Firth adequately anticipated the appearance on the screen in the distant future of two kings: the king of women's hearts Mr. Darcy and brought the actor Oscar King George VI.
Looking at the young Colin Firth in this film, it is difficult to believe that the actor does not yet know anything about his future fame. Here: the ideal gentleman, with careless dignity wearing classic costumes, in which he seemed to be born, is as stingy in words and emotions as his on-screen uncle, forcing the interlocutors to read the elusive change of view all the richness of feelings and thoughts, about which he almost always remains silent.
Already at the age of 25, you can see how masterfully an actor can combine the most attractive features in his characters. Richard is childishly serene and almost incapable of cunning, he is very sensitive and receptive to everything beautiful, whether it is the beauty of nature or the charm of a woman, as a true artist (this is the field the hero dreams of), he is responsive and sometimes very soft, and also, naturally for his age, shy. But at the same time, he is firm in character, persistent, it is impossible to knock him off the road and force him to act not in accordance with the “code of honor” he has defined for himself. And he is also distinguished by the ability to love and be constant in his feelings, even when he is not at all sure of reciprocity, even when separation threatens to drag on for a century, and there is always a lonely female soul nearby, which needs just a little warmth, caresses and a reliable, strong male shoulder.
I will mention the fact that one of his last roles (by the way, nominated for her Emmy) in this picture was played by the famous Lawrence Olivier, who became here a kind of symbol of everything that goes away, that is irretrievably destroyed and lost.
Having deservedly praised the gentlemen, I cannot but say "bravo" to the main actresses of the film. Memorable, believable images Julia and Cissy are embodied Carmen Du Sautoy and Gillian Bevan.
And, of course, inaccessible, infinitely loved, cheerful and serious, fervent and strict, pure as the sky, and clear as the sun, the girl performed by Bethie Edney. This heroine especially liked me because she is unlike many, which was then to meet in novels heroes Firth. Even venture to put it somewhere next to the incomparable Jennifer El, and with Jessica Bill, and with other successful couples of the actor. This is because his film biography includes such weak partners as, for example, the mother of the heroine of the film What the girl wants. If Nancy Ellis were even a little more dim in Lost Empires, this story would noticeably lose its colors.
Wouldn’t this film be so attractive to me if my fears that I would see in it only the dark and vulgar side of the theatrical backstage with its fuss and envy, intrigue and fleeting connections, infidelity of the public, fear of forgetting and poverty, other attributes of everyday acting, were justified. But no. It wasn't just that. And that, another, turned out to be the main life-affirming motif of the film. Perhaps naively, but the main thing sounded at the end: when you have the strength of mind and love, like a guiding star, let empires collapse and the world change - life goes on, and it is beautiful.
9 out of 10