Fortunes of War
by James Cellan Jones
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DVD details
Actor: Emma Thompson, Kenneth Branagh, Robert Stephens, Ronald Pickup, Rupert GravesDirector: James Cellan Jones
Brand: Warner Brothers
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Color, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 407 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-05-17
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: BBC Warner
DVD Reviews of Fortunes of War
DVD Review: Fortunes of War
Summary: 5 Stars
Received this item in good time and good quality. Enjoyed the excellent character acting, scenery and a side to WWII I knew very little about.DVD Review: BBC MINI-SERIES - NOT TO BE MISSED
Summary: 5 Stars
Olivia Manning was a British novelist of some renown, mainly due to her novels set during WWII in Bucharest, Athens and Cairo and based on the life she and her husband experienced as ex-pats and finally as exiles. During Manning's lifetime there were plans for some of her novels to be filmed but that did not transpire until 1987, several years after her death. At that time the BBC produced a brilliant mini-series called The Fortunes of War. Emma Thompson and Kenneth Branagh (who were later to marry and still later divorce) portrayed the characters of Harriet and Guy Pringle to such an effect that the viewer can feel these actors are indeed the Pringles (and by extension Manning and her husband). The DVD version that was issued in 2005 is a must-see for anyone who loves both literature and history and will enthrall those who celebrate the art of acting.
Can ??mlek?i
Istanbul Turkey
DVD Review: a classic!
Summary: 5 Stars
I loved Olivia Manning's novels and this mini-series is one of the best adaptations of a beloved literary work I have ever seen. Ronald Pickup's performance as Yakimov is just perfect! The video stands on its own but it is especially satisfying for those who have read the novels.DVD Review: Great movie magic
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm watching this for the 2nd time and just savoring it, watching one or two episodes a night. It's great storytelling, acting, directing, cinematography, etc. Subtle but powerful. I must remember to recommend it to others like my sister who enjoys the same types of films I do instead of selfishly keeping it to myself. But at least I'm sharing my opinion with you, aren't I? ;-)
DVD Review: Brilliantly written
Summary: 5 Stars
One of the early pieces with Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson. Amazing cast of interesting characters moving through Europe, Egypt and Eastern Europe just ahead of the Axis invasions becoming World War II. I saw bits and pieces on Masterpiece Theatre many years ago - very memorable.
Description of Fortunes of War
The Baltics, 1939. British professor Guy Pringle (Kenneth Branagh) arrives in Romania with his new bride, Harriet (Emma Thompson) and becomes enmeshed in the politics of anti-fascism. Despite Harriet's serious misgivings, Guy's social circle soon includes members of the British Secret Service who want to involve him in dangerous missions, and a downtrodden prince who zeroes in on Guy's generous nature and winds up living with the Pringles. Thus the stage is set for this mesmerizing story of marriage tested by accidental betrayal, callous insensitivity, and a world in upheaval. Based upon the autobiographical novels of best-selling author Olivia Manning, and set in places as far-flung as Bucharest, Athens and Cairo, Fortunes of War is majestic in both its scope and its vision."Wherever we are, that will always be the center of things." So professor Guy Pringle reassures his new wife, Harriet. Unfortunately, where they are is Bucharest in 1939, with the Nazis gathering on the border, and fascism casting longer, darker shadows. Thus begins this epic 1987 miniseries based on Olivia Manning's Balkan and Levant trilogies that was originally broadcast in the United States on Masterpiece Theatre. For most Americans, it was an auspicious first look at England's glamorous former First Thespian couple, Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson, who, as one character notes of Harriet, "lightens the darkness." Fortunes of War suggests what Casablanca might have been like had it followed Victor and Ilsa instead of Rick, who famously didn't want to stick his neck out for anybody. Not Guy. "I want to do something more dramatic than lecturing," he proclaims. "It is our duty to shine a little light to hope someone notices." His activities are enough to put him on a Nazi death list, forcing Guy and Harriet to Greece and Egypt. "It isn't a lark," Guy tells Harriet early on, "but it is an adventure." Fortunes of War is populated by colorful characters, most notably the pitiable and decidedly untrustworthy Prince Yakimov (Ronald Pickup), and the dashing young soldier Simon Boulderstone (Rupert Graves of The Forsythe Saga and A Room with a View). There is plenty of intrigue, betrayals, domestic melodrama, and emotional separations and reunions to propel this nearly seven-hour production to its powerful conclusion. Readers of Manning's books and Branagh and Thompson fans will find the release of War good fortune indeed. --Donald Liebenson
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