Well, that was fast. Just a few hours after HBO announced that they'll be bringing the U.K. miniseries "Parade's End" starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Rebecca Hall to American shores next month, they've gone ahead and dropped the first teaser trailer. And yes, it's look pretty damn good.
Set against this backdrop of World War I, the story follows English aristocrat Christopher Tietjens (Cumberbatch), trapped in a marriage to an unfaithful wife Sylvia (Hall) who has given birth to a child that may not be his. Christopher becomes entranced by Valentine Wannop (Adelaide Clemens), a fearless young woman who unexpectedly turns his world upside down. As war breaks out across Europe, Christopher, compelled by an outmoded code of conduct, feels obligated to remain loyal to his wife as he leaves a heartbroken Valentine to fight in France. Christopher struggles to adapt to his new life as an army officer. When he returns to England briefly, suffering from shell shock, he is alarmed to discover himself the target of vicious rumors. Rejected by his father and brother, alienated from Sylvia, with only Valentine to support him, he attempts to hold on to sanity and meaning as the old world order collapses amidst tremendous upheaval.
All told, it looks like the kind sumptuous story we love to settle into, and given how much a theatrical wasteland the multiplex is for the next few weeks (mostly), this is certainly a nice diversion. The five-part "Parade's End" will air over three consecutive nights starting on February 26th at 9 p.m.
Benedict Cumberbatch as Tiegiens is, as always, exceptional. He carries the story as grandly as the great Groby Tree. Although Stoppard, or White, (whichever) did skew the story toward Rebecca Hall's Sylvia, I don't think she was meant to be that sympathetic. But Hall was so terrific, it's understandable. Adelaide Clemens as Valentine Wannop did not get as much screen time as I would have hoped, especially after that early enchanting scene between Tiejens and Valentine in the mist. I began by being on team Sylvia, but by the end of the series, I was team Valentine all the way. It's a wonderful love story disguised as a war story. If you enjoy intelligent and engaging entertainment this one is for you.
I am looking forward to this.
looks great.
I just wish the series had been longer — unusually, because I think most HBO fare goes on too long. All of the actors in this are terrific, but it did feel somehow structurally unbalanced. Also, the first five minutes or so I couldn't deal with. Rebecca Hall's first scene, and her first meeting with Benny C — just no. That isn't her fault: the train carriage bit that they keep flashing back to is just wrong and never happened. I thought Hall was brilliant ftr and can't really blame anyone for focussing on her (amirite guys).
I'm not sure what to think about Hall here and in Lay the Favorite. At first, I thought she was terrible in both but she can't be…or can she? Probably it's because both characters are so unlikable and annoying? I don't know… I had such a high expectation on her.
Cumberbatch is wonderful in this production. Hall too. But Stoppard's scripts did focus far too much on Hall which in turn unbalances the love story. Clemens gets little to work with but her scenes with Cumberbatch are moving and I'd have liked to have seen more of them together. Hall does chew the scenery but its such an over the top part its hard not too. I;d have also liked more scenes at the trenches. Stoppard was adamant that it wasnt a story about WW1 but those moments are some of the most powerful in the series and they come far to late in the story. A flawed masterpiece. If the producers could have got Stoppard to stop focusing so much on Hall it could have been so much better.
Rebecca Hall is a LARGE HAM in this. Cumberbatch is blonde… BLONDE!!!