Touches You

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

It is always difficult to judge a movie based upon a book without passing judgment on what it manages to retain and what it (un)intentionally leaves behind. Olivia Manning's books used to be banned in Romania during the communist régime, and that is probably the reason why this TV series has been shot in some locations in Yugoslavia at the time of its production (1986 - 1987). I find the acting excellent, and the atmosphere filled with nostalgia. Nevertheless, given the fact that the producers have included various black-and-white excerpts from WWII documentaries, I find it inexcusable that they haven't also included vintage images of Bucharest in the 1940's, and especially of the Athénée Palace Hotel. Using some lugubrious Ljubliana building as a stand-in is very hard to swallow, especially for someone very well acquainted with the splendours of interbellum Bucharest. The same could have been done about the Royal Palace. And this would have hardly increased the costs. Apart from that, I find this worth watching and re-watching. As one grows older, one sees things differently.

I'm a rarity in this world. Smart enough to be called intellectual, well-read enough to be called academic, utile enough to be called blue-collar, and pragmatic enough to be called down-to-earth. That means I have little tolerance for the extreme's of that always-in-flux spectrum of human personality. I've been exposed to many worlds in my 54 years, so I've earned the perspective.We rented this series because of the time period and England does produce some of the best movies and mini-series' I have ever seen. For a production that is 27 years old, it stands with some of the best WW2-era stories out there.The actors were very good and believable, no mailing-it-in-performances. I felt like I was in Rumania, Greece, Egypt and all points between. But my admiration ends there. Perhaps that is due to good writing and acting, but there were but a few characters I actually liked. Charles Kay as Dobson and Rupert Graves as Simon Boulderstone embodied the better personalities amongst a collection of self-absorbed, self-indulgent, anarchistic anti-authoritarians.The well-to-do in the world and in fiction both strike me as remote and detached. An air of high-mindedness doesn't fit some people well and thanks go to Mother Nature for the back-handed lessons taught as a result of arrogance. Even so, the haughtiness of the Victorian Age is still loud and clear among these characters despite being set in a different time.

I don't know where I was when this first came out on PBS or BBC, but I know where I was when we rented it and watched it recently. Riveted and delighted. I award Fortunes of War a 9.5, from the marvelous real world settings to the splendid acting by every member of this incredible ensemble...and the story is simply superb. I didn't give it a 10 because I can't think of a 10 film at the moment with which to even compare. Enough superlatives. Watch it and be entertained and enlightened. Kenneth and Emma are joys to behold, the predicaments and conflicts totally believable, the insidious creep of Nazi Europe frightening, the subsequent war scenes thankfully subdued but still realistic. Rent it, own it, view it. Again and again.

I've just watched Fortunes of War again after a 17 year gap and it is every bit as good as I remember it.The fact that Branagh and Thompson's marriage fell apart in the 1990s adds poignancy to their acting of marital tensions here.Much of the drama revolves around Harriet's struggle to get Guy to "see" her as a person in her own right, although Branagh's portrayal of Guy's grief is the emotional high point.Two supporting roles deserve a special mention - Ronald Pickup as the (ultimately) lovable aristocratic rogue Prince Yakimov, and Alan Bennett as the blinkered, snobbish and self-important Lord Pinkrose. Thank God we were spared more than the first five words of his lecture!Even the small roles (e.g. Simon's army physiotherapist) are beautifully played.The camera work is also wonderful - particularly the final shot. The only drawback of seeing it on video, as opposed to the original TV episodes, is that the haunting theme tune is only heard right at the end of the film.