 
|
|
 |
|
The Line of Beauty
by BBC Warner
| List Price: |
$19.98 |
| Price: |
$10.99 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. |
| You Save: |
$8.99 (44%) |
|
|
DVD
Warner Brothers
Publisher: BBC Warner
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
Actors: Dan Stevens, Tim McInnerny, Hayley Atwell, Alice Krige, Carmen du Sautoy
Adapted by award-winning writer Andrew Davies from Alan Hollinghurst's Booker Prize-winning novel, this three-part saga is set during the Thatcherite 1980s. A story of love,, sex and money, The Line of Beauty crawls deep under the skin of Thatcher's Britain, seen through the eyes and experiences of a young, gay man, from the euphoria of falling in love to the tragedy of AIDS. Framed by the two gen
Adapted by award-winning writer Andrew Davies from Alan Hollinghurst's Booker Prize-winning novel, this three-part saga is set during the Thatcherite 1980s. A story of love, class, sex and money, The Line of Beauty crawls deep under the skin of Thatcher's Britain, seen through the eyes and experiences of a young, gay man, from the euphoria of falling in love to the tragedy of AIDS. Framed by the two general elections which returned Margaret Thatcher and the Conservative government to power, the series unfurls through four extraordinary years of change and tragedy.
Isn't it ironic that Nick Guest (Dan Stevens), the protagonist in the BBC's miniseries, A Line of Beauty, is a Henry James scholar at university before being inducted into the fast-paced, sexy world of upper class British society? Director Saul Dibb has transformed this politically scandalous story, based on the Alan Hollinghurst novel, into a juicy, three-part series set in 1986/87 that pits decadence against the heartbreak and crash that often follows it. A Line of Beauty follows Guest, an aspiring politician, who happily accepts an invitation to live and work for a friend's family headed by famous Conservative, Gerald Fedden (Tim McInnerny), under the condition that Guest watch their mentally unstable daughter, Cat (Hayley Atwell). Upon discovering that Nick's gay, Cat and Nick become best friends. Plots complicate to keep Nick's sexuality under wraps, as the viewer glimpses fancy debauched parties, major drug use (the show is named after a line of cocaine), and explicit sexual escapades. Soundtracked by great '80s bands like Duran Duran and New Order, the show's hip coolness counterbalances Guest's ultimate tragic fall, following the onset of AIDS. A story that at once assesses the British political corruption, sexual discrimination, and '80s fashion, A Line of Beauty offers soap opera-like entertainment along with conceptual substance. --Trinie Dalton
| Customer Reviews: |
|
| |
| Es muy buena. |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
 |
|
Esta miniserie de la BBC está bien hecha, me gustó mucho la historia, está bien contada y logra cautivar de principio a fin. Totalmente recomendada.
|
| ok |
| Customer Rating: 3 out of 5 |
 |
|
I purchased this product and received it in good time. The product was what I expected, it arrived in good condition, and was as I ordered. I watched the video and it re-played well and was complete as the movie that I rented some time ago. Thank you very much.
|
| Peeping From Behind The Curtains |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
 |
|
The editorial by Tim Dalton on this page, and the other most helpful reviews for "The Line of Beauty", are so accurate and complete that there is little left to say other than, "ditto", without being repetitive.
This is a superb BBC series set in Margaret ("The Lady") Thatcher's 1986-87 England amidst upper crust British political nobility and mega-rich society, and a background of decadence.
The characters are so real that watching this movie often feels like one is peeping from behind the curtains into private lives. Worth watching.
|
| Well adapted mini-series |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
|
|
Taking Hollinghurst's brilliant novel and making a 3 hour mini-series out of it is somewhat audacious. What makes it work is the high quality of the adaptation and the fine acting and the carefully thought through details of the setting. The book was written after the Thatcher era, and this is critical to the understanding of the reader. We don't have to wonder how things worked out because history has already told us. So we can focus on the subtle reminders of where we were when certain things came along. The comparisons to James and Fitzgerald that appear in other reviews are clearly appropriate. I was moved by the inspiration of Brideshead Revisited. This novel was also subject to mini-series adaptation and the two products live in their own worlds now -- subject to different vicissitudes that give them different kinds of anachronistic feels. But this does not spoil the pleasure of those works, nor does it spoil the pleasure of The Line of Beauty.
Nick Guest is not an important literary figure because he is weirdly outside the main flow of the storyline. It might be ironic that the narrator and central character of this story is outside the flow, but this is what makes both his presence and the existence of the story possible. Guest is like a piece of pH paper reporting the acidity of the environment without creating it. The twist at the end is particularly poignant because it reverses the cause and effect and leaves the viewer somewhat unsettled about how things turn out. But I ask the viewer to consider: if you were in the shoes of Nick Guest, how would you have handled things?
|
| stays short of the novel but nice. |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
|
|
The actors do their best. The adaptation of the absoloutly stunning novel is probably as good as it gets. After all, all three parts are just over 3 hours, and the main topics are all treated quite satisfactually. If you liked the novel, you will at least enjoy this adaptation as well.
|
|
