This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

caught this British mini-series on classic theatre station and settled in to watch it. liked it so much that i ordered a copy of the series. i admired the writers and director on how they handled the subject matter with intelligence and a matter of fact attitude. i was also surprised at the frankness of the love scenes between the two female leads but than again a lot of British cinema deals openly wih sexuality regardless of gender. i find Janet mcteer who portrayed vita sacke-ville west always gives a remarkable performance now what role she takes on. you can feel the the tortured pain she's going through as the mounting tension grows between her and her husband when he discovers she is having an affair. i thought all the actors gave a brilliant performance and highly recommend this piece of rare cinema.

I have neither read the book on which the movie is based, nor the letters between Vita and Violet. If I came to this movie with any expectations whatsoever, it was maybe that the Bloomsbury group (including among others Virginia Woolf, and which the Nicolsons were part of) would be depicted. It wasn't, which however wasn't a problem for me. What I am wondering about is how the people behind this movie managed to make it, in my opinion, so very uninteresting and repetitive and most of the characters flat, in spite of great material and some very good actors. The script is simply not good enough. I agree with the criticism of my Finnish neighbor - too many pointless sex scenes (but only between the women, while there is nothing explicit whatsoever concerning Harold's numerous love affairs), too many pointless scenes in general, too little information about the background of characters. It seems odd considering the quality of the production - on the surface it seems a really ambitious piece of work, but the script holds of course the most weight and that is where this movie fails.Vita's relationship with Harold struck me as unconvincing, although both of them act really well, especially her. The way they kept declaring their unconditional love for each other in a rather sappy manner I thought, well, simply unconvincing. It makes a lot more sense that it should have happened through letters, as tmmvds points out I would also have liked to know where the nicknames came from - the Russian ones* as well as Mar - why ever is someone called Vita given the nickname Mar? It might be small stuff, but it matters in contributing to the bigger picture.*I watched the movie with English subtitles on, and where it should apparently have said Mitya, it said instead Medea. That might explain my frustration with the nicknames to some extent - I could not understand why Vita's should be Greek while Violet's was Russian!

This excellent television drama was only shown once so this release is very welcome. Watching this again in 2007 made me realise what a rare thing it is. It's actually quite brave and I can't remember seeing anything like it before or since it was shown. It's very well scripted and acted and it's extraordinary in terms of television drama. The other posts here give a good sense of the content. I just wanted to respond to the message of 7 November 2006.While I agree with the author's points about the the depiction of Violet Trefusis, this drama is based mainly on Nigel Nicolson's book which includes Vita's own memoir and it draws from Glendinning's biography of Vita as well as Harold's, Vita's and Violet's letters. Vita and Harold are in fuller view than Violet. For instance, we see them in the context of their immediate families but Violet is not contextualised. As far as I know, the producers took a hard decision not to complicate the story by adding more characters but, on the other hand, they concentrate on the affair with Violet and much of the rest of Nicolson's book is dumped. I do agree that Violet could have been drawn better (she fought hard at great cost for Vita) and I do feel that the exclusion of Violet's powerful mother, Alice Keppel (an Edwardian superstar) was a mistake. Nevertheless, the drama does an excellent job of bringing the main protagonists to life.Of course there is some taking of dramatic licence but not to the detriment of the almost Gothic story. The story is true to the sources and much dialogue is taken from the letters. Yes, there are sex scenes but I wouldn't say too many. Both Vita's and Violet's records testify to the physical side of their relationship and, after all, this was one of the drivers for their attempts to get out of the UK.As a result of my own viewing of the DVD, I felt compelled to find out more about Violet because I found her the most intriguing character -because of the absence of information. The drama does not tell us what happened next, we only see Vita and Harold going safely home. Anyone who is interested in Violet can find books available on Amazon - her life story makes for a compelling read (see Diana Souhami's biography); there are excellent books too on Vita and Harold (and all were authors in their own rights). Only Denys's story has yet to be told in any detail.

Watched this TV movie way back in Stockholm, Sweden in 1991. I would not have believed it could happen in real life, if it had been a fiction, but it is not. It set me wondering for a bit. I like it a lot, though. The portrayal of Vita Sackville -West by Janet McTeer was very convincing , almost real, while Cathryn Harrison's portrayal of Violet Trefusis was interesting. The whole episode was truly heartbreaking and showed the complexities of the characters involved. Credit be given to Penelope Mortimer for the screenplay and the director Stephen Whittaker. The movie was also rather successful in capturing the scenes and the social stratification of England and France of the early 20th.century.