FORTUNES OF WAR (1987) (import)

I was delighted to find 'Fortunes of War' on disc after years of wondering if I ever would. Now I have it and it is even better than I remembered it being. The setting is Romania 1939 onwards, when Hitler is just beginning to wreak havoc in other parts of Europe. Guy and Harriet Pringle are newly married and she accompanies her husband back to Bucharest where he lectures at the university under the auspices of the British Council.The British are well thought of by the Romanians initially because Britain has promised to protect Romania in the event of a war. As it becomes increasingly obvious that Britain can hardly look after itself as the Nazi onslaught begins to crush one country after another, the Romanian leadership decides it had better curry favour with the Axis powers. Besides, there is already a strong German presence in Bucharest. Meanwhile, there is the growing menace of the Romanian fascist party to contend with as it begins to flex its muscles. Inevitably, the British residents come to be regarded as an embarrassment. Finally, the Pringles and others in their milieu are forced to flee. The action moves to Greece and then Egypt as the war gets steadily more threatening. Throughout the drama we follow the fortunes of a wide and intriguing cast of characters. Don't expect much in the way of battle scenes, though there are a few. This is about people away from the theatre of war, but whose lives are caught up in the growing menace of the Axis powers.

Everything about this production is first rate. This includes not only the excellent script (based on Olivia Manning's stunning THE BALKAN TRILOGY and its sequel THE LEVANT TRILOGY) and the cast list, but the photography, the settings, and the music. As with the best film and television drama, the casting has to be right, and here the casting director and his team have got it spot on. Now that I have bought and am reading 'The Balkan Trilogy' (from Amazon of course), I can see what a clever job Alan Plater has made of the adaptation of what is simply a wonderful sequence of novels. So what is the enduring impression I am left with? It is that feeling you get when you have enjoyed a work of art which is really well crafted, where nothing is skimped, and which never insults your intelligence, ever. The 'Fortunes of War' is so good, as are the books on which it is based, that you can return to it again and again. Marvellous value. Watching 'The Fortunes of War', with its splendid production values so plain to see, you realize just what poor stuff we are served up with today by way of film and television. Bring back the old days, I say, when less definitely was more!

I've been waiting for ages for this drama to get DVD'd. Although the rather quickly designed packaging would lead you to think that the story took place solely in Egypt the three disks are an excellent print. This is the ever wonderful Alan Plater's adaptation of Olivia Manning's series of 6 semi-autobiographical books charting World War Two from the civilian angle. Ken and Em star as a newly married couple, the Pringles, learning to fall out of love and back in again on the microscale. (The actors coincidentally married two years after and then fell out again).

Guy Pringle is a myopic English teacher spreading culture to foreign lands, always the centre of attention, and totally engrossed in his work, who soon forgets to pay attention to the strong willed Harriet, his new wife. At the same time the Nazi advance across Europe forces them to abandon their home first in Romania (filmed in Yugoslavia), then Greece ,and finally threatens their life in Egypt. On the way their brilliantly portrayed chance acquaitances veer from irritants to allies as the world around becomes more and more dangerous.

Other long term fans will be happy to note that unlike the pruriently edited versions shown on digital TV that this disk does actually feature the explanation for Bill Castelbar's bucket of cold water by his bedside. The rest of you will have to wait to episode 6. Delicious grown up drama. it's got to be better than reality TV!

I was so pleased when "Fortunes of War" was released on DVD! When I first saw this splendid BBC television series, I rushed to the nearest bookstore and bought Olivia Manning's mammoth Balkan and Levant trilogies, which I have since devoured at least three times. Reading, however, in no way lessens, but, instead, enhances one's enjoyment of "Fortunes of War," which preserves the essence of Manning's novels. Visually stunning, the film recreates Bucharest and Athens on the brink of World War II, and then Cairo and Alexandria, as well as Damascus and Jerusalem. One step ahead of the advancing Nazi armies, Guy and Harriet Pringle, the film's central characters, are constantly uprooted and forced to be on the move.

Guy, acted with affable understatement by Kenneth Brannagh, epitomizes the type of academic who constantly puts the wants of his students first. Friend to all the world, Guy Pringle remains totally oblivious to the needs of his newly-married bride. Harriet, played with a dry and subtle irony by Emma Thompson, must cope with setting up house, first, in a city that is about to fall to the juggernaut of the Third Reich; next, in a series of hotel rooms, each more seedy than the last; and finally, sharing digs in Cairo with an odd assortment of British expatriates (and their even odder friends and acquaintances who continually drift in and out of the premises). Guy simply cannot understand that Harriet might be miffed at his heedlessness. For example, after Guy offers her the female title role in Shakespeare's "Troilus and Cressida," she suddenly discovers that he has taken the part away without telling her and has given it to Sophie, a Rumanian professional student and troublemaker who resents Harriet's presence, both in Bucharest and in Guy's life. It is not that Guy Pringle does not love his "little monkey's paws," Harriet; he simply takes her for granted.

Among the outstanding ensemble cast, two performances are memorable: those of Ronald Pickup and Alan Bennett.

Pickup plays the incorrigible Prince Yakimov, a displaced Anglo-Russian aristocrat, long-since fallen on hard times. Pickup's performance is so poignantly nuanced that the viewer is moved from loathing, to laughing--first at him and then with him--and finally to loving him. "Poor Yaki" resembles a spoiled but irrepressibly sweet and helpless child. Not even the much-imposed-upon Harriet can remain angry at a man who appears before her wearing one brown and one black shoe and then explains that he has another pair just like them at home.

Alan Bennett plays the insufferably fussy Cambridge don, Professor Lord Pinkrose, who is always on the verge of giving his renowned lecture on Byron but who, for one reason or another, is always prevented from doing so. Bennett's performance does not make one love Pinkrose (nor should it). Pinkrose, who always darts a baneful glance in Harriet's direction, causes Guy so much trouble that the viewer is tempted to cheer when the Lord Professor finally gets his just desserts. Every film ought to have a character that one loves to hate, and Alan Bennett plays this one to perfection.

The viewer seeking the wartime thrills of dogfighting Messerschmidts, exploding bombs, and action packed battle sequences should rent "Saving Private Ryan" or a John Wayne movie. Even though the conflict in "Fortunes of War" is omnipresent, it is always just over the horizon. It nevertheless exerts a profound impact on the characters, both major and minor. It exerts an equally profound impact on the audience. For the discerning viewer, who appreciates exceptional acting and remarkable characterization, "Fortunes of War" represents the epitome of cinematic storytelling.

For Kenneth Brannagh and Emma Thompson, who acted together for the first time, this film represented "the start of a beautiful friendship," both on film and in real life. Unfortunately, it was not to last, but "Fortunes of War" at least allows us to glimpse the brilliant start, and to be glad that their joint venture in film lasted as long as it did!