recommended

Am I Missing Something?

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

The BBC miniseries issued on DVD have been sustaining me this winter. I found this one at my public library; it had been eluding me for many years. I am a fan of Janet McTeer and Cathryn Harrison, and found the account of the love affair between Vita Sackville-West and Violet Trefusis to be fairly engrossing, although overlong (at almost four hours). The problem is that these people are only moderately interesting--we remember Vita, if we remember her at all, as a character from Virginia Woolf's Orlando, while Harold is known as the author of diaries from the 1930's in which he recounts his experiences with Oswald Mosley and other famous people. Harold and Vita are bit-players on the stage of Europe between the wars, not principal players.I was entertained by the two female leads, who were brought to life successfully by Penelope Mortimer's screenplay. Cathryn Harrison was especially vivid in her portrayal of the more emotional and headstrong Violet. David Haig was excellent as the repellent Harold, a man who has his cake and wants to eat it too (in other words, have Vita as his wife and enjoy men on the side). Peter Birch as Trefusis was no more interesting than an illustration on the cover of a biscuit tin.

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!

Vita Sackville-West and Sir Harold Nicholson were married for more than 50 years and the parents of Benedict and Nigel Nicholson MBE, OBE, who wrote about his parents' unusual marriage in a very loving way. Both Vita and Harold had homosexual relationships on the side but it was Vita's relationship with childhood friend, Violet Keppel Trefuses who by the way is related to Camilla Parker-Bowles distantly that nearly threatened Vita and Harold's marriage. Marriage is an institution which produced two fine sons. The actress, Janet McTeer, who plays Vita does a superb job and memorable. Violet is played by Cathryn Harrison who I believe is Sir Rex Harrison's daughter or relative. Anyway the acting is sensational and it was quite revolutionary for it's time on television during Masterpiece Theater. Harold and Vita's marriage may have been quite unconventional by it's unusual circumstances but they stayed together. They built Sissinghurst Castle in Kent, England. Vita wrote a beautiful poem about her love for Harold. Now regardless that their union had outside lovers like Violet and Virginia Woolfe. They always returned to each other for comfort, companionship, and conversation. No, this marriage probably wouldn't survive today because there is just too much focus on sex completing a marriage. For those of us who know better, sex does not complete the marriage but enhance it. THe sexual desires of Vita and Harold may have been toward their own sex but they returned to each other every time. A successful marriage is based on being able to turn to the one you love, trust, and need in your most desperate time. Nigel wrote a loving book about his parents' unconventional marriage but he wrote that they still loved each other and returned to each other from their infidelities every time even with Violet Keppel.

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.