Sadly Over-hyped

Am I Missing Something?

Absolutely Fantastic

A Brilliant Conflict

This is one of the more propagandistic things you'll ever see - and within moments you can rat out the way the characters, situations will go - if the character/situation is self-pitying, libertine, atheist, self-absorbed, licentious - he/she is loved. If disciplined, restrained, religious, frankly patriotic or traditional, he's hated.It's a simple by the numbers job.Thus, although some here have written of this revealing how the war changed people's morality, this is false. We see before the War ever begins, that we're watching as rotten a group as one can imagine - deeply self-pitying and selfish people - women without any kind of femininity ("sure, I'll have sex with you whenever you like once I've married a rich man"), men without any kind of masculinity ("sure, I raped as many women as often as I could - committed war atrocities, sure, the lot - it was WAR and I know war and you don't" (and I can't stop talking about it because I'm as self-pitying a human as you'll ever ever meet! Why, I saw men die!")).I hated these characters - really loathed them right down to the ground.This was a grave disappointment because I have really liked so many of the actors in other things - from Nicholas LePrevost to Jennifer Ehle, from Rosemary Harris to Toby Stephens, from Paul Eddington to Felicity Kendall to Richard Johnson. Perhaps the book is better - but I doubt it. It's the characters and story that I found despicable.

The Camomile Lawn is one of my favorite British TV adaptations. It's based on a book by Mary Wesley, and was first shown in 1992. The director is Sir Peter Hall who founded both the National Theatre and the RSC. There are five episodes and it's compulsive viewing. It's a family drama set during the early years of World War II. In the last episode the characters meet at a funeral thirty years later, giving it similarities to the Big Chill. The main characters are seven cousins / friends who spend part of their summers in Cornwall at the home of Aunt Helena (Felicity Kendall) and Uncle Richard (Paul Eddington). The story begins in August 1939, before the Germans invade Poland. The friends, are mostly 18 or 19 and join the war effort when war is declared. The action then moves to London during the Blitz. The young cast all have an abundance of energy and charisma, especially Jennifer Ehle (Young Calypso), Tara Fitzgerald (Young Polly)and Rebecca Hall (Young Sophy). Philip Larkin famously said that sexual intercourse began in 1963, but he needed to get out more. With death all around them, the lead characters live for today and take a hedonistic approach to sex and booze. As the older Polly says (Virginia McKenna) "it was a happy time." Mary Wesley creates strong female characters who all seem wise, pragmatic and fun. The men mostly seem flawed and weak in some way. They are either dim-witted, obsessed with sex or confused about what they want. Eddington (Uncle Richard) is regarded by his family as something of a joke. Toby Stephens (Young Oliver) plays a left wing idealist who serves in the Spanish Civil War, lusts after Jennifer Ehle and complains about spending his army career running away from the Germans. Oliver Cotton (Max) plays a violinist who escapes from the clutches of the Nazis in Vienna and chases after the entire female cast. In Episode Five we meet older versions of the characters, including: Oliver (Richard Johnson), Sophy (Claire Bloom) and Calypso (Rosemary Harris)who talk about their past. Overall, it's fun, fast paced, beautifully written and brilliantly directed.

After reading the rave reviews on this site I bought this DVD. I love British (period) drama, and many favourite actors and actresses were in these mini-series (Jennifer Ehle, Paul Eddington, Toby Stephens...). What can I say? It's absolutely awful. There isn't anything redeeming about it: the plot is ridiculous and boring, the script is embarrassing and all seem to be giving the worst performances of their lives. As mentioned by others, there are lots of delicate issues like adultery etc. and usually I'm fine with it, but in these mini-series all incidents are just uninteresting and ridiculous. For the first time, I gave a 1 out of 10 rating to British mini-series. I'm not even watching the second DVD. P.S.: By the way, I was particularly disappointed with Jennifer Ehle, who I have loved in each and every role (Pride and Prejudice, Possession, Paradise Road).

Unforgettable adaptation of Mary Wesley's novel about a social circle in WWII - featuring affairs, incest and wife-swapping: "an immensely happy time", says one of the women, of the Blitz. Yet the series is far from tawdry. Like Calypso - the character everyone remembers - The Camomile Lawn is gorgeous to watch; glamorous; obsessed with sex; but slowly proves to have hidden depths and a strong, if unconventional, morality. Jennifer Ehle proves herself one of the sexiest figures to have been seen on screen, and a classic and classy actress to boot.