Monday, 27 January 2020

Downton Abbey (2019 Michael Engler)

Really quite poor, Julian Fellowes. The King is coming to stay and the faithful servants are all upset as the royal staff come in to take over, so they lock them in their rooms - it's that kind of level of writing that isn't going to impress anyone over six. As a quick nod to LGBT and inclusivity, the butler gets arrested for the heinous crime of dancing with another man. Meanwhile our Irish member of the family foils an anarchist and falls for the maid of a visiting lady (Imelda Staunton), who turns out to be inheriting (she's Tuppence Middleton).

Photographed by Ben Smithard (of course they felt they had to go to Panavision), edited by Mark Day, accompanied with the same tiresome music from the TV show (John Lunn).

Smithard did The Man Who Invented Christmas, Goodbye Christopher Robin, Viceroy's House, The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, The Trip, Belle, My Week with Marilyn, Freefall, The Damned United. This was shot in digital 6k on a Sony Venice.

I remember reading that Maggie Smith doesn't really enjoy working on things like the Harry Potters and this - from this effort I can quite see why.

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