Downton Abbey, the film—directed by Michael Engler. Drama. 122 minutes Color 2019.
★★★★★
The Story: Upstairs and downstairs is challenged by a royal visit.
~
The mixture as before.
And why not? Into the cut-glass punchbowl are poured:
The pleasure of seeing how the very rich live.
English beautifully spoken.
Fabulous period costumes.
The interior, exterior, and grounds of a stunning palace.
A million dollar cast.
The power of the servants.
The big-hearted devotion of everyone to everyone.
In a story devoted to service and the industry it requires
The devotion in the audience to a saga it has followed for years.
Told as before,
In short, a legal addiction.
The grandees face survival. And so do the servants. A few of them face it prominently. But they all vortex around the overnight visit to Downton of King George V and Queen Mary. The entire machinery of the great house is both engaged and overset by the protocols of this visit.
I never tell movie plots to you that previews of their coming attractions have not already spelled out. So consider yourself satisfied with an appetizer intended to draw you to a feast and a dance that both surprise and delight and at the same time meet all expectations. Princesses and witches, wily servants and loyal retainers. And the blessèd absence of Shirley Maclaine.
Downton is a house none of us would now either work in or own. Such mansions were designed for royal processions upon which monarchs and their retinues once travelled Great Britain to dispense the king’s justice. They were stupendous motels. Our vainglorious and nosy pleasure in being allowed inside one for a weekend is the same pleasure we took in Tara, a worthwhile, fleeting indulgence as interlopers into a world of splendor and privilege that is gone with the wind.