Her Indoors and I went to see this yesterday.
As I expected, there is no real plot, just a few sketchy sub-plots with tenuous links to each other; the characters are somehow one-dimensional to the point of being caricatures; the film barely questions the underlying social injustices - a couple of the characters claim to be 'republicans' i.e. anti-monarchy without realising that their employer, a large landowner, is part of the exploitative monarchical system.
The filming is 'sumptuous', nice camera angles and lighting, beautiful interiors and costumes etc. There was only one crass anachronism, when a self-employed plumber who worked late said "I want to make a success of my business, so I don't just do nine-to-five", and apart from that it all looked historically accurate to me.
It's basically three episodes of the TV series shown back-to-back without advertising breaks.
Yet somehow it grinds you down and I left the cinema in a good mood with a big dumb grin on my face. Strange.
Debate Magazine
