Gina and Evelyn and God Revisited.

Gina: Unconvincing as The Hunchback of Notre Dame, I thought.

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/9840851/Gina-Lollobrigidas-ex-lover-says-she-arranged-their-proxy-wedding-herself.html

A disturbing story. How many times might I have been married when I wasn't there?


 

 

Well, as if that wasn't enough, Toad has folded in his resolution not to comment on CP&S. And is now filled with shame for his irresolution and rashness.

But it's simply not worth it. And I shouldn't do it. But I am weak.

 

Not only that, but I've started re-watching Brideshead Revisited on Youtube.

This is likely to prove practically a lifetime's work, between firewood cutting and dog walking, as it is 14 hours long in all,

I have seen about four hours worth so far.

It was first shown in 1981, and is a magnificent achievement.

In these sordid and crisis-ridden times, the mere idea of such a vast and costly project would be considered a crazy dream.

 

Watching it today, the splendour and near perfection of it all, the beautiful sets, the quality of the acting, the elegant direction, I feel rather like some gawking peasant in the dark ages looking at the Aqueduct in Segovia, and wondering what kind of superhuman beings could have wrought such a marvel.

It's what television drama ought to be about. It covers, as far as I can see, every line and nuance of the Waugh novel, something no cinema movie could even hint at, then or ever.

I did wonder if such a comparatively trivial work was worth the effort, but that is, I think, not a fair objection.

Yes, the characters are - almost without exception, detestable - but that only makes the whole thing irresistably watchable, and true to the source material.

 

And yes, the deathbed re-conversion of Lord Marchmain is absurd. But it is absurd in the book, as well, along with Waugh's philistine snobbery and pretension.

 

I suppose if it was re-made today, it would be called, "I'm a Catholic celebrity - get me out of here!" Because that's the theme, really. Some things never change..