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Review of ‘Downton Abbey: A New Era’, the Crawley’s adventure in France.

The second film inspired by the successful television series hits theaters.

The six seasons of downton abbeythe series, which began airing in 2010 on the British network ITV, served over the past decade as a deft update on the satirical elegance of George Bernard Shaw (explicitly quoted here in dialogue, alongside Scott Fitzgerald), Oscar Wilde, P. G. Wodehouse or Evelyn Waugh. Showing the refined daily life of the Crawley family, between earls, heirs and lackeys, the format managed to satisfy the fascination with luxury and wealth on the part of an audience trapped in a present in crisis, in a similar way to what they achieved in the 1980s in the United States Dynasty, Dallas Y Falcon Crest, or in Latin America Rich people cry too, with thicker lines and/or kitsch. A formula, a hanger and a purpose that is still in vogue today thanks to series like The Crown, The Bridgertons, the razor sharp The Great or, to a certain extent, the embodiment of dreamlike bodies and parapalatial plots in the Spanish Elite. The series, created and scripted mainly by Julian Fellowes, also adapted to the new times by introducing feminist ingredients that were completely consistent with its approach, and highlighting homosexual characters within a cosmos that, let’s say it without fear, was blatantly cryptoqueer since the days of Blake Carrington, JR Ewing and Angela Channing.

arrogant and exquisite

When Fellowes himself set out, in 2019, to transfer his franchise to the cinematographic format, he faced the challenge of capturing the interest of new followers without sacrificing the taste of the faithful; basically, avoid stale nostalgia without falling into servility and opportunism woke up Less steely and accomplished than its predecessor, but just as satisfying in broad strokes, Downton Abbey: A New Era his main interest is in the new additions: apart from the always pleasant presence of Nathalie Baye, Laura Haddock and Dominic West exquisitely embroider their incarnations of silent film performers in the transition to sound. In directing, Michael Engler gives way to the more cinematographic Simon Curtis (The art of living in the rain, My week with Marilyn) without twisting the formula one iota. The film centers around two gracefully intertwined main subplots; remember that Fellowes was also a screenwriter for the splendid Gosford Park (Robert Altman, 2001). The first, the shooting of a movie in the mansion, gives the film a delicious charm that brings it closer to Bogdanovich’s cinema. The second, centered on an inheritance in the south of France, serves for the film to reveal its main mystery and pays ceremonial tribute to the essential Maggie Smith, who once again has some of the best replicas of a work as accomplished on multiple levels as rigorously enclosed.

For those who seek refuge, once again, in the Yorkshire mansion as a sumptuous comfort zone.

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Best: West/James-Collier and Dockery/Dancy sexual tension.

The worst: less complicit laughter than in its predecessor.

DATA SHEET

Direction: simon curtis Distribution: Hugh Bonneville, Michelle Dockery, Imelda Staunton, Maggie Smith, Dominic West, Hugh Dancy, Laura Haddock, Nathalie Baye Original title: Downton Abbey: A New Era Country: United Kingdom Year: 2020 Release date: 04-29-2022 Gender: Drama Film script: Julian Fellowes Duration: 125 minutes

Synopsis: The long-awaited return to the big screen of the global phenomenon brings together its iconic cast to embark on an exclusive journey to the South of France, where the mystery of the villa recently inherited by the Dowager Countess will be revealed.

Source: Fotogramas

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