Far from Perfect, Far from Terrible

A Masterpiece!

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

I just finished watching this series, and in the end, I must give it a thumbs down. It's well made for what it is. But what it is isn't anything very good.Sure, it's well made. It's well acted, well directed; it looks good, the sets and costumes and all bring the various periods to life. It's a classy, competent product. But what is the product? What is this thing they've made into a movie? Well, I'll tell you what it is: it's the story of a man's life. That's it. There's no plot other than that. Which is to say, there's no plot at all. By definition, a plot is connected sequence of events which follow a logical sequence to arrive at a climax. There's none of that here. There's just the events of one man's life. So what we have is not a plot, just a bunch of stuff that happens.Sorry, for me, plot is not optional, it is essential. Granted, some of the stuff that happens is interesting. Some of it is heart-wrenching. But in the end, it's still just a series of vignettes, not a coherent, integrated whole.

What a delicate human story of a real man and his very real and messy life, filled with all of the missteps into discovering the world and himself. While it is at once sentimental, it isn't overly romanticized or filled with self-pity.A curious and fascinating sub-plot around the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, took me into an internet search to learn more around a historical incident involving all the characters.Filled with flashbacks of Oxford friends, wives, lovers and children are the cast of characters illuminating our main character, Logan's, mind. Every flashback moves us through Logan's life, as he seems to outlive all of the unfortunate illnesses and accidents of his friends and family. The extensive ensemble of actors play their characters, with the grace and elegance you expect from such highly acclaimed actors as James Broadbent.The real thread of sweetness, in this series, is seeing how we assign value to our relationships and perception of the world. This is a story for every person, to feel connected to their own humanness and find purpose and human connection at every stage of their lives.

I only saw the two final episodes, so I missed some of the build-up, but I found it sort in interesting. One review said our hero was at key points in history, actually, he wasn't, he just happened to meet some people who were or became semi-famous. And anyway wouldn't we all remember what we were doing at key points, more so than most of our day to day lives? I liked the changing times and scenery and how Logan Mountstewart managed through and around them. I thought he was certainly lucky enough to have several fortunate events to come his way when he needed them the most such as Gloria (ex wife of a good friend) coming to pass the last days of her life just as he about destitute and bringing in some money, and then being bequeathed a house in France by somebody he barely met years before. I wish somebody would bequeath me a house! Typical 19th century English novel convenience. (see Jane Eyre) I found it a little hard to believe that he could abandon a dwelling for long periods of time, and then show up at them and have them not only be livable, but in fairly good repair. Houses don't work like that. But the running down of his flat over years was handled quite well.Once I understood that, one, these were scenes from his life that he was recalling with some fondness, and two, that women played an important part in them (eight mostly which is where 'Octet' came from), it became a little interesting to see how he would fare.One sequence I did find interesting, Kim Cattrell basically playing her age - and aging. And one sequence that should have affected me more because if done right, I can really get into it - his death was more happenstance than emotional. It was like, OK, he died, becoming a little better known and successful after death than he was while living.That leads to one of the bigger drawbacks of the production, basically everything was 'telegraphed' way in advance. It took a lot of the drama out. You knew the Duke and Duchess of Windsor would turn on him; you knew, everyone he loved would die almost tragically; you knew his last - sort of - love did not really know the past and he would be rejected when he found out and told her of it.Finally, one amusing but also embarrassing scene - Jim Broadbent trying to convince some 20-something left wing radicals that he had a lot in common with them. Neither his image nor the entire portrayal of Logan would lead anyone to accept that.Most the reviews so far are either gushing orchid letters or scathing criticisms. It warrants neither. Some good and some bad, with good production values, which is why it's a generous 6.

There's a section in the memoirs of the philosopher Bertrand Russell where he recalls an unexpected sexual encounter; he writes of it (in among weighty reflections on the meaning of life and the foundations of mathematics) with an almost puerile glee, like a child remembering being locked in the sweet shop. And there was something of the same tone - of baffled exultation, if you like - in a short story by the writer William Boyd, supposedly comprising a portion of the journals of a middle aged man called Logan Mountstewart (note the spelling), recounting a not dissimilar tale. Boyd must have enjoyed writing this, because a few years later he reconstructed the entire life of a renamed Mounstuart, in his novel 'Any Human Heart'. The author gave his character an accidentally interesting life, so that he happens to witness many key stories in 20th century history; but what really gives the book its quality is the believable nature of Logan's narrative voice.As a television drama, it's not nearly so successful. Most obviously, Logan's own words are lost, leaving us the story without the commentary. In its place, tedious flashbacks, and scenes of an elderly Logan reviewing his life, just in case we had forgotten the plot. Secondly, television is a much less imaginative medium, and many drama series set over decades struggle to truly convey the passage of time. 'Our Friends in the North' was one that succeeded; this one does not. The random happenings in Logan's life no longer appear like chance events, retrospectively interesting, in a story driven by its own imperatives, but rather as implausible plot; instead of Logan making acquaintances who transpire to be famous, there's a feeling of shallow name-dropping (here he meets Hemmingway, there the Duchess of Windsor); and coincidences seem contrived when they're all there is. The background of ordinary life, behind which Boyd so successfully disguised his somewhat preposterous tale, is lost. I'm reminded of the disastrous television adaptation of 'A Dance to the Music of Time'; that was worse, as it compressed not one book but thirteen, but there's something of the same problem here. There are also other similarities, in the tale of an aristocratic writer in an where aristocracy is in decline. I didn't see the similarities when I read the book, but they are enhanced not just because of the televisual medium but for other reasons as well: the simplification of the character of Peter Scabius (making him an almost Widmerpool-style figure), and a reluctance to paint the world of Logan's youth in anything other than familiar 'Brideshead'-style colours. Related to the latter, the desire for a certain aesthetic has led the director to cast a stunningly beautiful woman in the role of almost everyone with whom Logan has an affair; the younger Logan is also very dashing, although the older Logan is allowed to age (he still has a final fling, however, with a very pretty French lady, and before that, with an attractive prostitute). While the original character had a messy personal life, there was never the feeling of perpetual glamour one gets when watching this production. To make it worse, we have to be shown Logan having sex with every one of them, an unimaginative and eventually tiresomely repetitive decision. What can be slyly implied in one line of a book becomes an endless succession of sweaty bodies, as if we couldn't be trusted to imagine it for ourselves.This feels like a bitter review. But the book was good. It's become a series that is merely good looking; and sadly, utterly lacking in heart.