Fortunes of War
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Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
Brand: Warner Brothers
EAN: 9781419805271
Format: Color, NTSC
ISBN: 1419805274
Label: BBC Warner
Manufacturer: BBC Warner
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: BBC Warner
Region Code: 1
Release Date: May 17, 2005
Running Time: 407 minutes
Sales Rank: 15212
Studio: BBC Warner
Theatrical Release Date: 1988
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Editorial Review:
Description:
The Baltics, 1939. British professor Guy Pringle (Kenneth Branagh) arrives in Romania with his new bride, Harriet (Emma Thompson) and becomes enmeshed in the politics of anti-fascism. Despite Harriet's serious misgivings, Guy's social circle soon includes members of the British Secret Service who want to involve him in dangerous missions, and a downtrodden prince who zeroes in on Guy's generous nature and winds up living with the Pringles. Thus the stage is set for this mesmerizing story of marriage tested by accidental betrayal, callous insensitivity, and a world in upheaval. Based upon the autobiographical novels of best-selling author Olivia Manning, and set in places as far-flung as Bucharest, Athens and Cairo, Fortunes of War is majestic in both its scope and its vision.
Amazon.com:
'Wherever we are, that will always be the center of things.' So professor Guy Pringle reassures his new wife, Harriet. Unfortunately, where they are is Bucharest in 1939, with the Nazis gathering on the border, and fascism casting longer, darker shadows. Thus begins this epic 1987 miniseries based on Olivia Manning's Balkan and Levant trilogies that was originally broadcast in the United States on Masterpiece Theatre. For most Americans, it was an auspicious first look at England's glamorous former First Thespian couple, Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson, who, as one character notes of Harriet, 'lightens the darkness.' Fortunes of War suggests what Casablanca might have been like had it followed Victor and Ilsa instead of Rick, who famously didn't want to stick his neck out for anybody. Not Guy. 'I want to do something more dramatic than lecturing,' he proclaims. 'It is our duty to shine a little light to hope someone notices.' His activities are enough to put him on a Nazi death list, forcing Guy and Harriet to Greece and Egypt. 'It isn't a lark,' Guy tells Harriet early on, 'but it is an adventure.' Fortunes of War is populated by colorful characters, most notably the pitiable and decidedly untrustworthy Prince Yakimov (Ronald Pickup), and the dashing young soldier Simon Boulderstone (Rupert Graves of The Forsythe Saga and A Room with a View). There is plenty of intrigue, betrayals, domestic melodrama, and emotional separations and reunions to propel this nearly seven-hour production to its powerful conclusion. Readers of Manning's books and Branagh and Thompson fans will find the release of War good fortune indeed. --Donald Liebenson
Average Rating: 
Rating:
- Fortunes of WarReceived this item in good time and good quality. Enjoyed the excellent character acting, scenery ... Read More
Rating:
- BBC MINI-SERIES - NOT TO BE MISSEDOlivia Manning was a British novelist of some renown, mainly due to her novels set during WWII in Bucharest, ... Read More
Rating:
- a classic!I loved Olivia Manning's novels and this mini-series is one of the best adaptations of a beloved literary work ... Read More
Rating:
- Great movie magicI'm watching this for the 2nd time and just savoring it, watching one or two episodes a night. It's great storytelling, ... Read More
Rating:
- Brilliantly writtenOne of the early pieces with Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson. Amazing cast of interesting characters moving through Europe, ... Read More
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