For anyone who has always observed or has been inquisitive of the stark difference between how a film and a series is shot, will get their interest intensified with Downton Abbey, the cinematic climax to the long running British Drama Downton Abbey. The show ended on a happy note for everyone, with all the characters either matched with their significant others, or handed estates or regained positions of power.
Set in Yorkshire County, the film continues from where the show had stopped. Downton Abbey is the house of Crawleys. Now that both daughters Mary Talbot and Edith Pelham are married and have begun their own lives, their father Robert Crawley awaits to become heir to their distant cousin’s estate. King George V and Queen Mary are to visit Downton and that had spurred excitement both upstairs and downstairs. This is when scandal says hello to the family yet again.
The film begins like a fairytale and for lovers of the show, it was nothing less than that. To hear the key music of the show played as the film sets stage, will bring out numerous memories. Director Michael Engler has tried to refurbish the adaptation with as much cinematic elements as possible with heavy use of establishing shots and camera movements in a way that it excites the audience to see what lies ahead. But to his discomfort, writer Julian Fellows who also wrote and produced the show, has not done justice to the script. The story becomes increasingly predictable and that wouldn’t have been a problem, if suspense and mystery were not constantly overplayed for the first half of the film.
This film clearly has a very specific audience because there’s a lot one needs to know beforehand about the characters and story, and that is something only viewers of the show would know.
It was refreshing to spot Maggie Smith and Imelda Staunton sharing a frame again, in a British setting. Harry Potter fans might drool over this simple fact because not only do they share screens but are also rivals and opposers of each other in the film.
Clearly, Downton Abbey is a film that will never be missed by the fans of the show given how it made history with ever changing plots and its infamous Christmas specials. But it’s also no doubt that they might be dissatisfied because it is woven with a weak plot and nothing apart from camerawork that makes it stand out as a film.
The F Word 