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PAGE 8—The Southern Cross, October 25,1984
"Barchester Chronicles" - "An Englishman Abroad"
Capsule Movie Reviews
TV PROGRAMS OF NOTE
NEW YORK (NC) -- Satire doesn’t need to bludgeon its
target to score some points. It can accomplish this
purpose just as effectively with gentle humor and
strightforward wit as deftly demonstarted in Anthony
Trollope’s “Barchester Chronicles,” a seven-part
dramatization on “Masterpiece Theatre,” premiering
Sunday, Oct. 28, 9-10 p.m. EST on PBS.
The story is centered within the privileged position of
the Church of England as the established religion of the
Victorian era. Its target, however, is the greed and
ambition motivating some of these fictional 19th-century
church officials as well as their political opponents.
With his usual aplomb. Alistair Cooke provides the
necessary introduction to this era of parliamentarian
reform in curtailing state appropriations for church
purposes.
In the imaginary cathedral town of Barchester, the Rev.
Septimus Harding (Donald Pleasence) is content with this
duties as cathedral choirmaster and warden of its hospital,
endowed centuries before to provide for 12 of the town’s
pensioners. Mr. Harding, a good and simple individual,
receives a very comfortable income as warden and, with
few duties, is free to indulge his love of music.
When Mr. Harding is accused of cheating the pensioners
of their fair share of the endowment, his serenity is
devastated. Complicating matters is the fact that his
accuser, a local doctor acting on behalf of the reformers,
is not only a friend but his daughter’s suitor.
Instead of fighting the charge, Mr. Harding himself
comes to believe that the warden’s stipend is far more
than the position deserves. His refusal to challenge the
reformers is dismissed by his bishop as another example of
Mr. Harding’s “persistent bouts of Christianity.”
By the end of this first episode, Mr. Harding has been
woken from complacency and forced to reassess his
conscience and his future. In the course of doing so, he
proves his mettle as a human being and as a minister of
the Gospel. Pleasence, who has made a career of villainous
roles, gives a warmly sympathetic performance as the very
likeable and often droll clergyman.
Except for Mr. Harding, the picture of the clergy
presented here is not very edifying. The worst are shown
as unscrupulous opportunists, others as plodding
careerists, their goal fixed on moving upward in a
state-supported institution. Such as these fail to see the
hypocrisy of cloaking their ambition in terms of spiritual
endeavor.
Trollope, however, is not mean-spirited about the
human frality of his characters. The few outright villains
fool no one for very long and are ultimately hoist by their
own petards. Most are simply ineffective bumblers,
suffering most from the lack of a true sense of vocation.
The drama’s satire is not in any way aimed at religion
but at certain members of the clergy of that day. Free
from the burden of such church-state entanglements,
American viewers will enjoy this ecclesiastical comedy for
its rich cast of character types, some of which are still to
be found among those working for any institution.
There are some charming portraits of family life among
the Anglican clergy. But these are balanced by several
others which are less than ideal, including that of a bishop
whose domineering wife interferes in the ecclesiastical
politics of the diocese.
“AN ENGLISHMAN ABROAD,” PBS, NOV. 2
In 1958, Australian actress Coral Browne was on tour
in Russia with the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre and
chanced to meet British defector Guy Burgess. The
encounter has been dramatized by Alan Bennett in “An
Englishman Abroad,” airing Friday, Nov. 2, 9-10 p.m.
EST on PBS. It also is appearing on cable Tuesday, Oct.
30, 9-10 p.m, EST on the Arts and Entertainment
Network.
The result is a frail little anecdote that won’t mean
much for Americans. On the other side of the Atlantic,
however, Burgess has been a figure of notoriety since
1951 as a traitor to the security of his country as well as
to the British upper class to which he belonged.
When Ms. Browne met him he was a pathetic character
living in squalor on the fringes os Moscow society after
having fallen out of favor with “the comrades.” Ms.
Browne, sympathizing neither with his politics nor his
homosexual lifestyle, nevertheless agreed to bring his
present measurements back to London so his tailor could
make him a new suit of clothes.
Although some may not be overwhelmed by the nature
of Ms. Browne’s humanitarian gesture, this BBC
production is a fascinating look at the dehumanization of
a closed society as well as a celebration of British
eccentricity.
Directed by John Schlesinger, the performances of Ms.
Browne playing herself and Alan Bates as Burgess are as
fine as television has to offer. It’s definitely not for the
kids, however.
Monday, Oct. 29, 8-9 p.m. EST (PBS) “The Boy Who
Loved Trolls.” In an impersonal world of high tech and
computer games, a young boy fights to retain his
childhood dreams by searching for the troll he knows
exists outside of fairy tales.
Monday, Oct. 29, 9-10 p.m. EST (PBS) “Roads from
the Ghetto.” The “Heritage: Civilization and the Jews”
series examines the confrontation between European
Jewish society and modernity, covering the Industrial and
the French Revolutions, the rise of modem anti-Semitism
and the birth of Zionism.
Tuesday, Oct. 30, 8-9 p.m. EST (PBS) “Biological
Warfare.” This “Nova” documentary probes the
controversy surrounding the charges that chemical warfare
was used in Southeast Asia, weighing arguments which
claim chemicals are being dropped from planes against
reports that swarms of bees are responsible for the
“yellow rain.”
Tuesday, Oct. 30, 9-11 p.m. EST (CBS) “Silence of the
Heart.” Marietta Hartley, Dana Hill and Howard
Hesseman star as the confused and bereaved family of a
teen-age suicide victim in a drama which tries to fill in the
communication gap between parents and their children.
Wednesday, Oct. 31, 8-11:30 p.m. EST (PBS) “La
Forza del Destino.” The cast for this Verdi opera includes
Leontyne Price, Isola Jones, Giuseppe Giacomini and Leo
Nucci in a performance taped at the Metropolitan Opera
in New York.
MINI-SERIES -- Alan Rickman, left, plays
Obadiah Slope and Clive Swift plays Dr. Proudie
in “Barchester Chronicles,” a seven-part
dramatization of Anthony Trollope’s satirical
novels which on Oct. 28 begins the 14th season of
“Masterpiece Theatre” on PBS. Judi Bowker, left,
and Alice Krige star as two Irish sisters who are
processed through the Great Hall on Ellis Island
in 1907, en route to a new life in America in
“Ellis Island,” a seven-hour mini-series airing Nov.
11, 13 and 14 on CBS. The cast also features
Faye Dunaway and the late Richard Burton. (NC
photos)
NEW YORK (NC) - The following are synopses of
movie reviews prepared by the staff of the U.S. Catholic
Conference Department of Communication.
“THE ADVENTURES OF BUCKAROO BANZAL” (FOX)
A sci-fi spoof that is much more amusing to hear about
than to see, though the always dependable John Lithgow
scores as a mad scientist. There is some comically
intended violence, but the film is innocuous for the most
part. The U.S. Catholic Conference has classified it A-II —
adults and adolescents. The industry rating is PG —
parental guidance suggested.
“COUNTRY” (BUENA VISTA)
A very good film about an Iowa family trying to hold
on to their farm while bearing the burden of interest due
on massive government loans extended in more
prosperous times. A little predictable with a heroine too
courageous and noble to be true perhaps, but an
admirable achievement nevertheless. Some humorous
byplay occasioned by a nosy young sister discovering a
contraceptive in her big brother’s room makes this
questionable fare for young viewers. The U.S. Catholic
Conference has classified it A-II - adults and adolescents.
The industry rating is PG — parental guidance suggested.
“THE FIRST TURN-ON” (TROMA)
A sleazy little exploitation film about some campers
trapped in a cave who recount their first sexual
expereinces. The U.S. Catholic Conference has classified it
O — morally offensive — because of its nudity and graphic
sexuality. The industry rating is R — restricted.
“GARBO TALKS” (MGM-UA)
A sentimental comedy about a loving son who spares
no effect to fulfill his dying mother’s wish to meet Greta
Garbo. Entertaining but a little hard to take unless you
share the film’s mood of New York-style liberial
humanism and subscribe to the Garbo mystique. Because
of the movie’s insistence that death is the end of
everything and its callous depiction of the collapse of a
marriage, the U.S. Catholic Conference has classified it
A-III — adults. The industry rating is PG-13 — parents are
strongly cautioned to give special guidance for attendance
of children under 13.
“SAVAGE STREETS” (MOTION PICTURE MARKETING)
A crude and violent exploitation movie about teen-age
gangs and vengeance starring Linda Blair. The U.S.
Catholic Conference has classified it O — morally
offensive. The industry rating is R — restricted.
“TEACHERS” (MGM-UA)
Nick Nolte stars as a harassed but effective and
idealistic teacher in a zoo-like high school. This crude,
disjointed effort comes across as just another teen-age
exploitation movie. Because of its rough language, nudity
and its favorable view of abortion, it has been classified 0
— morally offensive - by the U.S. Catholic Conference.
The industry rating is R — restricted.