Review: Downton Abbey’s fairy tale continues to fester

Movie Review: Downton Abbey

Julian Fellowes created a perfect little universe inside a crystal ball, then filled it with the suggestion of outside elements — a pinch of painted sand and glitter that he can agitate to conjure a snowstorm of conflict. The new feature film stays inside the gorgeous snow globe as a Royal Visit shakes up the Crawley family, and sets the stage for the next century — as well as a continuing film franchise.

Downton Abbey

3.5/5

Starring: Michelle Dockery, Maggie Smith, Hugh Bonneville, Jim Carter, Geraldine James, Elizabeth McGovern, Allen Leech, Tuppence Middleton

Directed by: Michael Engler

Running time: 2 hrs 2 mins

Rating: Parental Guidance

By Katherine Monk

What is it about Downton Abbey? Why do the lives of the privileged pull us in? Is it the vicarious thrill of watching real people inhabit mansions and waltz across intricate parquet — a favourite fairy tale brought to life? Is it about our collective curiosity factor, and our desire to penetrate the starched veil of the upper classes with our vulgar gaze? Or is it something more psychologically pressing?

After watching Downton Abbey — the movie — I’m tending toward the latter, because as the darkness settled over the audience, and the sight of a silver nib craftily sliding across linen stationery set the plot in motion, I felt something akin to communal expectation fused with giddiness.

Clearly, Downton Abbey isn’t just about a Yorkshire Estate and its titled inhabitants at the turn of the last century. Julian Fellowes (aka The Lord Fellowes of West Stafford) has created a perfect little universe inside a crystal ball. A decorative testament to hand craftsmanship and old school quality, this tiny world is a wonder to behold on the shelf, but he’s filled it with the suggestion of the outside elements — a pinch of painted sand and glitter that he can agitate, conjuring a snowstorm of conflict.

For a brief moment, it’s swirling chaos as the structure disappears, only to re-emerge moments later as the flakes float down, settling on the ornate outline of a storied past. There is something magical, safe and reassuring in this cycle of order and disorder. People and feelings and times may change, but some things are so solid, beloved and needed, they survive the generations.

Downton Abbey is a complete fiction, but in the silken folds of its fancy costumes and tailored formal wear, we access the essence of our civilization: our need to not only clothe our naked animal nature, but to enhance it, tuck it in, and make it beautiful.

It’s about striving for the ideal and attaining it — if only for the briefest of moments — which is exactly what propels the plot for this first feature take on the popular TV series that garnered 69 Emmy nominations over its six seasons (2010-2015).

We follow the letter penned in that opening shot as it makes its way through the Royal Mail, finally landing on a silver platter, and presented to Robert Crawley (Hugh Bonneville), aka Lord Grantham. King George V will be making a visit to Downton Abbey with his wife, daughter and entourage, prompting a flurry of activity both above and below the grand staircase.

For the war-worn aristocrats topside, the King’s visit feels like a vestige of the previous century, before the postwar rise of the middle class, when rank and status were cast in stone. The Crawleys will have to ignore their limited budget and open the family purse to make a proper impression. Granny (Maggie Smith), meanwhile, will be forced to make peace with an old rival.

The kerfuffle above is mirrored below as the butler, maids, housekeeper and cooks are flooded with pride at the chance to serve a royal, only to be thrown into despair when the king’s entourage usurps every role from footman to seamstress.

The drama comes from the chaffing between the person and the role, between traditional expectations and pragmatic realities, not to mention plain old personality conflict. It’s why anyone can relate to Downton Abbey’s universe, regardless of one’s background, class, or demographic. It speaks to the complexities of personal identity and the importance of having a sense of purpose.

The drama comes from the chaffing between the person and the role, between traditional expectations and pragmatic realities, not to mention plain old personality conflict. It’s why anyone can relate to Downton Abbey’s universe, regardless of one’s background, class, or demographic.

Moreover, at this particular moment in time, it speaks to a changing world order: the erosion of the aristocracy, the shrinking English Empire and the empowerment of women. Every episode of the TV show had a chance to chisel these themes into fine little miniatures. The movie had to make the same content feel like a full scale model.

Director Michael Engler doesn’t flinch under the weight of this bigger world. A seasoned TV veteran with several seasons of Downton and Sex and the City under his belt, Engler knows exactly what to do, and where to focus.

From the moment we watch that letter travel across the land, he lets us drink in all the details, from the sorting cars on the mail train, to the hand-stictched ball gowns and powered lawn mowers sliding across placid green oceans of grass. It’s an animated doll house filled with charismatic characters, from the plucky and sexy Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery), to the closeted gay butler, Mr. Barrow (Robert James-Collier).

It’s fun to watch them shuffled across the board of life at Fellowes’s will, bumping into each other and inflicting the odd scratch before the larger social structure imposes itself, gently asserting its heft and historical momentum over the individual.

The writing reflects this larger, social whole because as much as we get lost in individual storylines, we feel the immoveable anchor of place. The sprawling elegance of the house keeps its inhabitants contained, together but apart, and so becomes the de facto hero of the story — the quiet force that maintains order and commands a sense of higher, noble duty.

Modern eyes could easily pull the whole fabric apart as a socially unjust, class-stratified antiquity that limits human potential. What’s interesting is how the very formula defies the desire to undo it all. We want this crusty world filled with snobs and gobs to continue, to remain as grand and glorious as it was intended to be — even though none of us belong to that vanishing sliver of society.

Fellowes belongs to that world, and because he communicates it to us with an ear for the age and a knowledge of the future, we can yearn for something we never knew — and yet feel nostalgic about.

Modern eyes could easily pull the whole fabric apart as a socially unjust, class-stratified antiquity that limits human potential. What’s interesting is how the very formula defies the desire to undo it all. We want this crusty world filled with snobs and gobs to continue, to remain as grand and glorious as it was intended to be — even though none of us belong to that vanishing sliver of society.

It’s like watching a Royal Wedding on TV. For a brief moment, we can relate to the lives of the elevated others on a human level. We see a King and a Queen, a Prince and a Princess, but also mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, lovers and sworn enemies circling the floor with feelings we understand and recognize. It’s why we want the Crawleys to continue, and why this film opens the door to more adventures to come: It’s about overcoming our human ugliness as an act of will.

“Every royal visit is like watching a swan on the water — all elegance and beauty up top, but demented flapping below,” says one acute observer over the course of the film. The same could be said for the human condition as a whole: We’re all trying to stay calm and disguise the panic of being through groomed appearance, but when you get right down to it, there’s a lot of mad flapping happening down below. An entertainment like Downton Abbey not only celebrates the ideal, it helps us embrace the flaws, and acknowledge the quiet heroism in the bid to make things beautiful in the moment.

@katherinemonk

Main image: The Crawley family reunites for a Royal Visit in the movie version of Downton Abbey. Courtesy of Focus Features.
THE EX-PRESS, September 20, 2019

To read more of Katherine Monk’s movie reviews, check out The Ex-Press Archive, or survey a sample of career work at Rotten Tomatoes

-30-

Review: Downton Abbey

User Rating

5 (1 Votes)

Summary

3.5Score

With Downton Abbey, Julian Fellowes created a perfect little universe inside a crystal ball, then filled it with a snowstorm of conflict. The new feature film stays inside the gorgeous snow globe as a Royal Visit shakes up the Crawley family, and sets the stage for the next century -- as well as a continuing film franchise. For fans of the TV show, the movie comes as a welcome continuation of the fairy tale. For those who haven’t watched a single episode, the film is a sassy comedy of manners served up on a fancy silver platter. -- Katherine Monk

No Replies to "Review: Downton Abbey’s fairy tale continues to fester"

    Ex-Press Yourself... and leave a reply