The Camomile Lawn
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Movie Reviews of The Camomile Lawn
Movie Review: Reminiscent randy relationships of relatives and friends
Summary: 3 Stars
The story starts out with people going to Max's (Oliver Cotton) funeral 40 years after WWII. On the way to the funeral each person, several generations of family and friends reminisce on their earlier war years where five cousins gathered at their uncles' house with a chamomile lawn.
The costumes and sets were impeccable and carried you to a different world and time. You feel that you lived through the war. We see the destruction and disruption caused by the war.
We see the casualties of war and the trials for those left behind. In the midst of this people are growing up and making decisions, strange or unconventional decisions. Some of the film has the feel of the movie "To Kill a Mockingbird".
At first I was distracted because the actors are so well known such as Felicity Kendal (Helena Cuthbertson) and Paul Eddington (Richard Cuthbertson.) Hoverer by the end I came to look on them as the characters that they are playing.
Being a mini-series there is more time to add the finer points of the book. However there are a lot of subjects and actions that are just implied or not complete thoughts. I can only assume that the film relies heavily on one reading the book first. With the exception on one story line being wrapped up in the end many lose ends lead one to realize this is not a story with a beginning middle and end; it is just a snippet of life that is taken at face value as we move on.
Movie Review: I was robbed!
Summary: 3 Stars
I wanted to see this movie because I like actor Toby Stephens and wanted to see something of his early work. I thought the first three episodes were great in their portrayal of the the lives of young people and their struggles with love and growing up in prewar and wartime England. I felt a real fondness for the characters after all they'd been through together by the end of the first disc (first three episodes). However, the last two episodes (disc two) were a disappointment. After becoming attached to these endearing young people and their characters, we are robbed of them as they age and turn into different people (actors) all together. Why not use the same actors and age them? Surely makeup and clothing can do that! Additionally, the whole ending was too quick and short and very anticlimactic. But perhaps that is what war does to all of us, it changes us into different people and we are all robbed of certain ones we have loved, so maybe it is appropriate that we loose those young people in the end. Still though, I was sorry not to get to see more of Toby Stephens. He has only one scene in the fourth episode and none at all in the fifth (disc two). So I only gave it three stars, one star per episode that I liked.Movie Review: Nostalgic and well acted.
Summary: 3 Stars
The strength of this English mini-series is the gorgeous setting in Cornwall, where a group of cousins vacation in their Aunt's cliffside home and where grows the lawn of the title.
The onset of WWII shatters this idyllic scene. But we find out through the story that all was not as peaceful as we thought when the secrets of incest and child abuse come to light.
I loved the first three episodes of this delightfully nostalgic series. The randy sexcapades of London under fire were fun and revealing. The portrayal of the tendency of families to protect child abusers came out in the later episodes and was not so appealing. However, one wants to know how it ends!
The first three episodes get five stars, the last two are unfortunately not as good.
Movie Review: the dehumanization of art
Summary: 2 Stars
This movie is composed of quick glimpses, not scenes, and consists mostly of talk. There is virtually no action of any kind in this four-and-a-half hour movie.
The funeral at the end is as perfunctory as everything else. Contrary to the product description, there is no story of a reunion of characters at the funeral. Mostly, they appear driving their various cars to the funeral and, like a chorus, commenting on and explaining the actions that we have just been shown.
The nasty-surprise ending gives a clue as to why the author may have written this book--to gloat over the sexual prowess of one of the characters. Most viewers will find this revelation repulsive. If you make a guess as to why the author wrote such a story and then read the Mary Wesley biographical summary included with this DVD, you'll probably find your guess vindicated. Viewers who do not share her prejudices will not enjoy this movie.
Some of the "characters" like the twins and Walter are merely ciphers, not characters at all, not even caricatures. All the characters with the exception of Sophie are sociopaths. It's true that there are sociopaths in the world, but they are relatively rare (at least they were rare in the past). There is not a shred of humanity in any of these people. Some, I suppose, are intended to be "quirky", but quirky does not have to be infuriating or obnoxious. The entire movie is an exhibition of contempt for human beings or at least contempt for the British upper-middle class. No doubt there are people who will agree with this assessment. They should enjoy this movie.
Unlike other period movies, WWII is merely a device in this movie. It plays almost no role and hardly appears, except as drawn curtains, taped windows and some sound effects. The war seems to mean little to most of the characters. A couple of times, someone mourns for a dead cousin; but since there was no evidence of positive regard between them before, the mourning hardly has any effect on the audience.
Even the sex scenes are too cold-blooded to be erotic scenes, let alone love scenes. People casually hop into bed with no evidence of desire or other positive feelings. Consequently, they are ineffective as cinema.
The music is appropriate: all spikes, quirks, jerks and plucked strings.
I can't believe that the amazon reviewer actually watched this movie. His statements sound more like promotional material for the movie than like a review.
Movie Review: good actors, mediocre characters
Summary: 2 Stars
The cast is impressive enough, and the scenery and period tone is interesting but nothing can save this series from its shallow characterizations and tacky plot. I seldom find a film bad enough to regret the time wasted spent watching it. But for this one I did. Fortunately though I almost purchased it on amazon, I decided to rent it first. And I highly recommend renting it before purchasing it unseen in spite of the promise its stellar cast lends it.
With all that's going on in Gr. Br. during this period, the upheavals in the character's lives, etc, the drama in this flick never seems to rise above who is about to sleep with whom. The characters interchange beds and partners more often than a French farce. Without the humor. As if the producers were desperate to incite the watcher's flagging interest in this trivial film, there's a fair bit of nudity -- a lot by U.S. tv standards. Far from titilating, I ended up feeling sorry for any actor who felt that they needed to sacrifice their dignity to bare all for this boring piece of trash. There's no great artistic merit in this film. Most of the characters seem deeply unpleasant, selfish, even psychologically challenged. Calypso's self interest borders on sociopathic, and the rest of the characters gratify their own self interests regardless of any respect for the ties they should feel for friends, spouses, or the social strictures against molesting kids. Needless to say, few characters are very likable, and not much goes on in this film, apart from a lot of sleeping around. Given the characters don't seem to care for themselves or eachother, its hard to imagine why the viewer is supposed to care. The uninspired plot (such as it is) is not helped by being fractured by constant moving from present to past, most of the action (to put it in that sense) occuring in the WWII past. Most of them spend their regrouping in the present (for a funeral) carping at eachother for their actions in the past.
Unless you like really shallow relationships and lots of purely gratuitous sleeping around as the main plot without even a hint of anything more interesting, save yourself five hours of your life and skip this lame turkey. I am not one who has ever watched soap operas, but I had the impression that even soap operas probably have it all over this thing. It was just boring and unpleasant. I kept waiting for something to happen that lifted it up, but nothing did.