Lilies
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Movie Reviews of Lilies
Movie Review: Wish there was more...
Summary: 5 Stars
Unfortunately, only 1 season of Lilies was made, but what a season it was. I loved this series and would highly recommend this to any lover of period drama. I couldn't wait to get home and watch more...and I even took the time to write this review...Movie Review: Wish there was more!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
Could not stop watching! I was hooked from the beginning and watched it all in two sittings. Wish there was more than just eight episodes. I am wanting more! Love BBC TV!Movie Review: Hypnotizing bubbles
Summary: 4 Stars
Wow, I really can't stop watching this thing. Secrets, lies, corruption, adultery, sickness, unwanted pregnancies, hidden scars- figuratively and literally, anger, sex, suicide, lots of conniving tomfoolery and a bit of humor thrown in so we can breath until the next storm.
The Moss family lives, strives, smolders and explodes in a day by day type fashion. It highly entertaining, even addicting. Some would say it's reality for the times. Perhaps. But not to this concentrated, over the top, fashion. It's basically an extremely, well-made, English soap opera.
The acting is 5 star. Dadda is my favorite character, likable and despicable, ever volatile. He looks a little like Charles Chaplin. A widower, he needs to stay that way. The three Lilies: May the maid with no sense, Ruby the feminist, maybe communist, maybe New Ager, always opinionated, and Iris the pseudo-mother Madonna, all struggle with their identities and men and each other. Billy the only boy struggles, too, with sexual identity and household position. Except for one episode, he is way under utilized.
The sets show the dark and dismal contrast of Moss's Liverpool vs. the opulence where May gets to work and probably wished she hadn't, or where Ruby's 'friends' hang out in their political and judgmental enlightment
The supporting cast also shines. The priest carries the torch and morals for all and languishes in his own imperfection stating "that God (must be) imperfect since he made man in His own image." I quess he skipped Genesis and the Fall. Back to catechism with you. The policeman is sympathetic, but somewhat insipid, and the neighbors always worry about the latest gossip, epidemic, Tallyman or the Moss's bathroom.
The family that stays together doesn't necessarily pray together- not if you're the Moss's. More like rages together. And will somebody put away the dishes before Dadda gets home. There's no comfortable, gushy romance; nothing's comfortable; there's always something stalking around the corner ready to rip the relative calm asunder. It wears me out. Will I watch another series of it? No. Maybe. Yes, darn it.
Movie Review: Lilies is Excellent
Summary: 4 Stars
Well, if you're tired of watching drawn out, self-agrandizing films about the horrors of war or the injustices visited upon one class or another and want a little more warmth, compassion and fun in a period setting - welcome to Lilies.
This miniseries centers around a lower-class family in the 1920's (set in Northern Ireland, I believe). The family is comprised of one very volatile father, a rather subdued elder sister who is the main care-giver, a "wild-sided" middle sister, a bright emotional younger sister and a disturbed eldest brother just back from the war. The storyline? Basically, they get into all kinds of trouble, from the mundane sort to life's most difficult challenges in a tone that maintains a personal, "non-overbearing" quality throughout.
What I like best about the series is it's periods of humor. So many books and films about post WWII or the advance of industrialization in Europe are utterly bleak and focus on the horror of life to the exclusion of all else. Characters are wonderful, realistic and well-developed.
This miniseries makes you cry from time to time, laugh out loud and rejoice at least once in every episode. And by that, I mean not the high-art sort of emotions so often portrayed in these things, but the day-to-day, real-life kind that keeps us all going. It really touches you on that level. As for history/period elements, they are presented as background - not a cultural, social or religious "statement" movie. I found the treatment of the period made it easier digest and didn't distract from the storyline.
So, basically I'd recommend this film to anyone who has sisters, brothers or crazy relations - anyone who has ever tried to have a deep thought and wondered why it went so horribly wrong when they tried to act on it - or just plain cared about and supported someone in spite of the cost. Each episode will make you want to watch the next. Wish the BBC would take these characters to the next level - maybe we can convince them to do more.
Movie Review: Bloody absorbing
Summary: 4 Stars
Rented this 8-part mini-series and promptly became addicted to it. The film examines a neglected era, the aftershocks of WWI in England and the PTSS that abounded. As it centers around a working class middle-aged Britisher widower and his 4 young adult children, it offers a compelling story with wonderful actors including Stephen Moyer True Blood: The Complete First Season (HBO Series), top-notch set design and interesting character arcs. However, if one of the characters falls in love you can be sure it is not going anywhere as none of them are going to leave their dysfunctional family.
There is a plot twist in the second episode that I didn't see coming and found rather disturbing but it probably could happen. There are several very graphic scenes involving childbirth, miscarriage, suicide and the like. Severely wounded veterans feature prominently in a couple of episodes and that is pretty graphic as well. Beware the father's violent temper and after a while you start to be afraid for any domesticated animals that might be around while he is in full temper and has a meat cleaver handy.
My biggest complaint is none of the loose ends are really tied up at the end, so it has a television feel to it rather than the plot resolutions that have been set-up. Also, unless you are a native speaker of the King's English, parts of dialogue need subtitles and they are not available. This is the reason I gave it four stars instead of five. It is actually posted on Youtube but it will take forever to watch it.