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DVD Description
Starring Bryan Dick, Sally Hawkins, Zoe Tapper and Phil Davis; Patrick Hamilton’s trilogy of working class London life in the 1930s is captured movingly in this beautifully observed and faithful adaptation.
In a world of smoky pubs and foggy lamplights, down-at-heel workers and forlorn lovers, the story focuses on The Midnight Bell, a bar off the Euston Road, and observes the impossibility of love between three protagonists.
Bob, the pub’s barman, is infatuated with penniless prostitute Jenny, believing that he can rescue her through his rapidly diminishing savings. Barmaid Ella, while attracting the attentions of an older, wealthier man, casts lovelorn glances at her colleague. Meanwhile, Jenny, forced onto the streets through poverty, has little time for such niceties, as she casts her flirtatious eyes about in search of custom. This “spellbinding” (The Times) drama observes the struggles of ordinary lives lived close to the poverty line, and the torments and drives of unrequited love, ambition and disappointment.
Special Features:
In a world of smoky pubs and foggy lamplights, down-at-heel workers and forlorn lovers, the story focuses on The Midnight Bell, a bar off the Euston Road, and observes the impossibility of love between three protagonists.
Bob, the pub’s barman, is infatuated with penniless prostitute Jenny, believing that he can rescue her through his rapidly diminishing savings. Barmaid Ella, while attracting the attentions of an older, wealthier man, casts lovelorn glances at her colleague. Meanwhile, Jenny, forced onto the streets through poverty, has little time for such niceties, as she casts her flirtatious eyes about in search of custom. This “spellbinding” (The Times) drama observes the struggles of ordinary lives lived close to the poverty line, and the torments and drives of unrequited love, ambition and disappointment.
Special Features:
- Photogallery
- Feature Commentary with Simon Curtis (Director), Kate Harwood (Producer) and Kevin Elyot (Screenwriter)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
62 of 63 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Bittersweet is the word that sums this lovely film up in one!
Unrequited love, hope and broken dreams all around for the three young characters in this wonderful film set in London between the two wars.
The waiter, the barmaid and the prostitute all tell their side of a very cleverly entwined story.
Sad and beautiful-heartbreaking and sweet, romantic yet so disturbing.
A film about life and how brittle circumstances can be as to wich direction a young life can take!
A must see-fantastic acting and the set is great too!
Unrequited love, hope and broken dreams all around for the three young characters in this wonderful film set in London between the two wars.
The waiter, the barmaid and the prostitute all tell their side of a very cleverly entwined story.
Sad and beautiful-heartbreaking and sweet, romantic yet so disturbing.
A film about life and how brittle circumstances can be as to wich direction a young life can take!
A must see-fantastic acting and the set is great too!
82 of 86 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
You have to have a heart of flint not to be in some way touched by this remarkable portrait of the sadness of very ordinary lives. Shot through with poignant 1930s popular song (but not intrusively so) and filmed in muted colours that add to the melancholy atmosphere; this is indeed faithful to Patrick's Hamilton trilogy. The dialogue is vividly naturalistic and is supported by a wealth of subtle, insightful performances including Phil Davis' Mr. Eccles, whose thwarted courtship of Ella is itself a performance of searing loneliness, and Zoe Tapper as the feckless, easily led Jenny in drink fuelled free fall. Special mention must, however, be given to Sally Hawkins as Ella, enduring the agonies of living in close proximity to the subject of her unrequited love. Her remarkably expressive face captures psychological depth and turmoil to an extraordinary degree and the omission of this performance from the Baftas show that they have ceased to be anything more than marketing events.
This is a heartbreaking story but there is also a warmth and wonderful humour (as well as a sharp ear for ordinary dialogue)that makes this considerably more than a period piece. Quite wonderful - I would also recommend the book .
This is a heartbreaking story but there is also a warmth and wonderful humour (as well as a sharp ear for ordinary dialogue)that makes this considerably more than a period piece. Quite wonderful - I would also recommend the book .
57 of 61 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
I bought this DVD based on the reviews I read on Amazon. I was not disappointed. I thoroughly enjoyed the series which I had not seen before. I'm not sure if it has been shown here. I thought the characters were very believable and depicted true to the time the series was set in i.e. the Thirties. Ifelt sorry for Bob for the way Jenny used him , but also sorry for Jenny as she too was a victim of the time she lived in. Ella was not strong enough to tell Bob how she felt so lost out as well. The series was well written and left you wanting to know what happened. You really needed to sit and watch all three episodes at the one time. If you like period drama I would thoroughly recommend this one.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Evocative and powerful
Two Thousand Streets under the Sky tells the story of three young people, who's lives collide in the Midnight Bell pub. Read more
Published 1 month ago by pilatesforlife
Brilliant Sunday evening gem
Bittersweet story of four people trying to find love, how they mesh and unmesh. Won't comment too much on the storyline and give too much away but it really was rather... Read more
Published 1 month ago by M. E. Robb
period drama
Fabulous period drama. Just my cup of tea. Will certainly buy from here again.
Want to build up a library of good films ready for the winter.
Want to build up a library of good films ready for the winter.
Published 1 month ago by dexter
Honeybunny17
This was three separate stories about three people, but their lives intertwined.
Good acting, easy to watch.Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky [DVD]
Good acting, easy to watch.Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky [DVD]
Published 2 months ago by Honeybunny17
Having read the book. . .
I recently read and enjoyed the book and was surprised to find out that a TV adaptation had been produced a couple of years ago, which prompted me to buy the DVD. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Rob the reader
Melancholy drama
If you have experienced love and rejection you might feel this movie is about you. I could identify with the main characters and at the end,I felt just like them.
Published 4 months ago by C.E.King
Mixed Blessings
Having read previous reviews I eagerly anticipated watching this film. On the good side the cinematography was superb and really did create the atmosphere of the times. Read more
Published 6 months ago by marinerview
Cure for insomnia
Suffing insomnia? Too much excitement in your life? Add this DVD to your home collection and you'll be counting sheep no longer! Read more
Published 9 months ago by Tumblegum
Wish I'd watched Mama Mia instead
I had the idea that this film was a lightweight period drama so I watched it all the way through, convinced that something would come along any minute to cheer me up. It never did. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Camilla Creek
The book is better
I did enjoy this, but I read the book(s) first some years ago and thoroughly enjoy it. I think it's always difficult when you've read the books first to make a good review. Read more
Published 9 months ago by D. P. Robson
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