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England, My England - The Story of Henry Purcell [DVD] [1995]
 
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England, My England - The Story of Henry Purcell [DVD] [1995]

DVD ~ Simon Callow
2.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
RRP: £17.99
Price: £13.98 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Frequently Bought Together

England, My England - The Story of Henry Purcell [DVD] [1995] + God Rot Tunbridge Wells - The Life Of Georg Frederic Handel [1985] [DVD] + O Thou Transcendent - The Life Of Ralph Vaughan Williams [2007] [DVD]
Total RRP: £57.97
Price For All Three: £50.55

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

England, My England - The Story of Henry Purcell [DVD] [1995]
78% buy the item featured on this page:
England, My England - The Story of Henry Purcell [DVD] [1995] 2.7 out of 5 stars (3)
£13.98
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Product details

  • Actors: Simon Callow, Michael Ball, Colin Redgrave
  • Directors: Tony Palmer
  • Format: Classical, PAL
  • Language English
  • Subtitles: Spanish, Italian, German, English
  • Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Classification: Exempt
  • Studio: Warner Music Entertainment
  • DVD Release Date: 30 Jul 2007
  • Run Time: 155 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B000SKKCN2
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 35,654 in DVD (See Bestsellers in DVD)

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Reviews

Synopsis
This British biopic attempts to chronicle the life of 17th-century tunesmith Henry Purcell. The filmmakers have had to do much speculating about Britain's first great composer, as little is known about his life back then. It is known that Purcell had been a chorister as a child and then became the court composer for three kings: Charles, James, and William. Before his death at age 37, Purcell penned over 1,000 songs and sired a few children, most of whom died at birth. While little is actually known of Purcell, the film successfully recreates the tumultuous era in which he lived. Running parallel to Purcell's story is a subplot set in the 1960s, when English society and values seemed to be rapidly eroding, much as they were in the composer's time. The story concerns a playwright's attempts to research the life of Purcell for his next play. In the last part of the film, several lavish musical numbers from Purcell's vast repertoire are presented.

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Customer Reviews

3 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
2.7 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A musical and visual treat, 21 Jun 2008
By Mondoro (Ormskirk, Lancashire United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
'England, My England' tells the story of our of our great composers and uses rich colours and settings to recreate the court of Charles II and his royal patron, Mary. It employs many of our leading actors, with Simon Callow as the mainstay, and singers; some of whom, like Susan Graham, are now at the summit of their profession. The choice of Purcell's music to illustrate episodes in his life is well-judged and always apt, and there are many discoveries to be made: the quality of music in 'King Arthur', especially. I particularly liked the final touch of the Britten 'Young Person's Guide' finale, based on Purcell- a tribute to another of our great composers.

Above all, Callow's film is an intelligent historical and social commentary on Purcell's world, and our apparently very different, world. The theme cutting across both is that of violence, lurking under the surface, and erupting at times into sectarianism and revolt: the film makes a direct link between the No Popery sectarianism that swept through England and the stridency of Ian Paisley and the Orange Order.

Callow comments also on the concept of English identity - part of Europe, but not part of it, unsure of its place, a 'hanger on'. My only slight reservation is the occasional tendency of Callow, playing the modern actor, to rant, rather than leaving us, his audience, to reach our own judgements.

Purcell the composer comes across as a beacon of English identity, writing music of genius that is neither French nor Italian (the competing factions at the time) but uniquely English. Yet even today only a handful of his works out of an enormous output, written in the same lifespan as Mozart's, are really well-known. This film goes some way towards rectifying this situation.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars A badly mixed bag of ancient and modern, 29 Oct 2008
By spud-the-mud (Vienna, Austria) - See all my reviews
I read the "A musical and visual treat" review given above and thought I would give this a go. I missed the minor comment about "modern". Be warned. Much of this film is set in the modern era, where the lead actor (plays King Charles in the ancient parts) rants like a drunken Shakespearean actor on stage. A pompous buffoon.
The bits set in Purcell's time are excellent - but they occupy only 60% (guesstimate) of the film. I was just getting into the Stuart atmospehere, and suddenly we are back in the modern world. One just gets into this -and whoops- you're back in the Stuart times again. Really irritating.
The music is an eye-opener - watch out for when the total musical output of Purcell is given; truly prodigous. His lack of general recognition is a shame on us all.
All that aside, the Purcellian part is a typically brilliant UK (I think this is a UK film!) costume drama, with proper costumes, scenery, and excellent dramatic photography etc. And the modern part is also good, in its own way. It's like they had ideas for two films but only the budget for one - so decide to do both together! Not, in my mind successfully.
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1.0 out of 5 stars Opera on DVD collector, 25 May 2009
By Edita Camm (Nairobi, Kenya) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This is the 3rd Tony Palmer film I buy on DVD. The other two being "Puccini" and "God Rot in Tumbridge Wells' (Life of Handel). Both rotten! My mistake was never to take any notice of the name of the director/producer.
Now I have learned to BEWARE of the name Tony Palmer!!! and invite you all to beware!!
I could not watch any of them to the end. Such a mix of unconnected pictures with pompous pseudo intellectual dialogues, jumping from one scene to the other without any logic and - in this film - from modern times to ancient times....
This year is the anniversay of Purcell's birth and I was really looking forward to this film. I am so angry with myself that it should have been the 3rd Tony Palmer rabbish film that I fell into buying.
Just beware. They are boring incoherent,inconclusive and the little music that is in it is not enough to make up for it.
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