Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Florence Nightingale has long been a revered figure in Britain, so much so that she has even been officially canonised by the Church of England, so it is not surprising that a number of films have been made about her life, the most famous of which is probably "The Lady with the Lamp" with Anna Neagle from 1951. (I must admit that I have never seen any of them). Nightingale had many achievements to her credit; she was the founder of modern nursing, a celebrated social reformer and also a gifted mathematician and statistician, being regarded as a pioneer of statistics as an intellectual discipline. Her prominence in the public's imagination, however, largely rests upon her role as a nurse during the Crimean War. Most of the films I refer to earlier were made in the early twentieth century; the first dates from as long ago as 1912, only two years after her death. This television drama from 1985 is the only film about her in recent decades and, as one might expect, deals with her early years, up to and including her Crimean War experiences. When I recently reviewed "Grace Kelly", another eighties made-for- television biopic starring a former Charlie's Angel, in that case Cheryl Ladd, it struck me as an object lesson in how not to make a filmed biography, being quite devoid of any insight into what sort of person Kelly was or of any dramatic tension. Its only aim seemed to be to convey factual information; I could just as well have been watching a dramatisation of an encyclopedia entry. The lack of any physical resemblance between Ladd and the woman she was playing didn't really help matters. Certainly, Jaclyn Smith probably looks even less like Florence Nightingale than Ladd does like Grace Kelly, but that does not matter quite so much. Kelly was one of the iconic beauties of her generation, whereas Nightingale, although described by contemporaries as attractive in her youth, became famous for matters quite unconnected with her looks, and this film avoids most of those defects which so marred "Grace Kelly". A biopic needs to do more than simply narrate the facts; it also needs a narrative structure akin to that of a purely fictitious drama, and this can often be supplied by dramatising some conflict or struggle in the life of its subject. The story as told here is that of a strong woman who has to struggle against obstacles, both external social ones and internal psychological ones, in order to achieve her destiny. Nightingale's internal conflict is the one between her love for the poet and statesman Richard Monckton Milnes and her religiously-inspired sense of vocation as a nurse. In reality, Nightingale rejected Milnes after a nine year courtship, convinced that marriage would interfere with her ability to follow her calling, whereas in the film it is he who rejects her, a change probably made in order to soften her character. Nightingale's external conflicts are twofold. She initially experiences resistance from her family to the idea of her becoming a nurse- in the early nineteenth century nursing was not regarded as a fit profession for a young lady of quality- but this is soon overcome after she wins over her kindly, liberal father William. She faces more serious opposition to her plans to form a female nursing corps to nurse soldiers in the Crimean War. The British military establishment, including the Army Medical Corps, was particularly resistant to change- wounded soldiers had never previously been attended by female nurses- and tended to regard sick and wounded "other ranks" as expendable, even if their wounds had been incurred while performing some heroic action. Even here, however, Nightingale eventually succeeds in her goals, aided by allies such as the politician Sidney Herbert and the journalist William Russell, and by the fact that even the Army top brass cannot close its eyes to the dramatic reduction in the death rate achieved by her methods. Jaclyn Smith was easily the most beautiful of the various "Angels", with Tanya Roberts her only serious rival in that department. (I realise that will be a controversial statement, but then I am one of the few heterosexual males of my generation not to have had a schoolboy crush on the artificial-looking Farrah Fawcett-Majors). Jaclyn also struck me as having a lot more talent than some of the other Angels, so I am always surprised that she never went on to become a major movie star, although she has remained a well-known figure on television. She acquits herself well here, showing that there was a lot more to her than just a bikini- clad beauty and that she was also capable of taking on leading roles in serious drama. The best of the supporting cast are probably Jeremy Brett as William and future James Bond star Timothy Dalton as Milnes. "Florence Nightingale" is informative, but also dramatically satisfying, the sort of biopic that works both as biography and as drama. It can serve as an object lesson in how to make a successful filmed biography. 7/10

It is difficult to put the entire story of a legend of History on any screen. Television makes it even more difficult with the size & time & budget constrictions put upon that production. This is a good effort to do it, but only a piece of the story.Jaclyn Smith is an appropriate person to play Florence Nightingale here in a story which brings across a story of her not often told. It gets past the legend and presents one facet of her own inner conflict. That story is of Nightingale choosing the path she believed God intended for her over the other path of becoming a rich married woman with a family. God intends for her to be a healer as this story goes. Considering actual events, she chose wisely putting others before herself.She spurns the love and marriage of Timothy Dalton's nobleman, and winds up in the British-Russian war of 1855 becoming a Saint. She is presented here as one of the early women pushing women's rights more than a century before a modern movement in the 1960's & 70's would finally breach that wall, more than 50 years before women ever could even vote in the US.The performance of Jeremy Brett & Claire Bloom which are more intrinsic than Dalton after the first half of the film are grand and the scenery is well done. The one reflection that you get it was made for television is you can sense where the commercial breaks are when watching the DVD. Glad it was brought to this version, as this is too long & commercials would take away some of the wallop. It is a little weak in the second half after Dalton is gone, but still a good effort overall.

Jaclyn Smith may not be the Cate Blanchet of her generation but definitely talented as compared to most of her contemporary.This is also one of the best TV movie drama in the 80's. Sad to say, Hollywood don't make this kind of movies anymore.Excellent performances from the entire cast. Jaclyn Smith is acting here with sincerity. You can't avoid watching her face ( beautiful in every angle) gracefully on the screen, but she's shown emotions over and above expectation.Smith is not the "ïndie film star" of sort --a.k.a critics ravers. But if you want to sit down and enjoy a two to three hour TV production in the comfy of your own home then this one excellent production is for you.Highly recommended....

A plot SPOILER follows. Of course, it is based on historic fact.As Florence Nightingale is portrayed in this film, she achieved through confrontation with her family, her friends, the medical profession, and the British military authorities. Whether such conflicts were at the root of her success I cannot say. It is clear, however, that she is responsible for several very important revolutions in health care. First, she introduced cleanliness as of primary importance. Then, she raised the duties and the perception of nurses to the level of a profession. Lastly, she established formal education for nurses.The British television production clearly shows conditions as they were when Florence arrived at adulthood. She was of the gentry, but her heart was with the sick and injured of whatever class. Rejecting a worthy suitor, she set off to Kaiserswerth in Germany to get nursing training, such as it was at the time.Upon her return, she shocked her family by entering and then working in a hospital, the type of institution where ladies just didn't set foot. Hospitals were filthy, like prisons, where the attendants treated patients with utter distain and where the environment was vile indeed.Miss Nightingale came into her own during 1854, in the Crimean War. This film does an excellent job of portraying that. She took a group of nurses to a military hospital and revolutionized it over the constant objections of the military commanders and the doctors. She did gain some support as word of her changes began to be reported back home in Britain.Anyone with a background or interest in health care, especially in nursing or hospital administration will enjoy this film for its subject matter. The filmmaking is a bit uneven and episodic, which you might expect from a television series.Jaclyn Smith portrays Florence with sensitivity, thereby creating a believable and engaging character.