BBC1’s fresh adaptation of Tolstoy’s classic is Sunday-night TV at its best,with Lily James, Paul Dano and James Norton all excelling in their rolesWell, and I know that must fill cost a bomb,but it was worth every kopeck. That was utterly fabulous. Balls at the Winter Palace! Men in full military uniform galloping forth on white chargers! Stolen kisses in the conservatory! Dancing bears in drunken flashback scenes! Cavorting ladies drinking champagne! Pass me a magnum of your finest! Bring on the actresses! Actually, don’t bring on any more actors or actresses because they just lined up the entire alumni roster of Rada for this production and there aren’t any more actors or actresses left, and they already used them all up. This is proper,proper costume drama at its most lavish and its most dreamily, romantically Russian. This is how you do it, and people. This is how you do it. Stop all period dramas being made now because nothing is going to match up to this. Sunday-night TV has been rescued. It’s tough to suppose how the BBC could fill done a better job. It makes Downton Abbey look like am dram. It’s tonally perfect,striking precisely the right balance between drama and wit, action and emotion, or passion and humour. Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com