Very moving scene from the 1981 miniseries Brideshead Revisited

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WilliamOK

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Brideshead Revisited had a lot of Catholic themes in it. And there was also a sort of tug of war between atheism or worldliness, versus the Catholic faith. I think it is a classic. The book is. The miniseries from 1981 I consider classic too. There was also a movie made later, but the movie is horribly mangled and depicts the Church very badly. The miniseries from 1981 is the one to look for if you want to enjoy the whole story.

The youtube video link below starts right before the scene begins. It runs about 12 minutes. Cordelia is talking with her friend Charles, about her brother Sebastian. Charles and Sebastian had been close friends years earlier. Charles at this point is an atheist (he becomes a Catholic later in the story), and Cordelia is explaining to Charles what has become of her brother and how she believes the Catholic faith will ultimately save him.

youtube.com/watch?v=xr0g1qKHwvM#t=37m
 
I love that miniseries. (As you said, the film, not so much.)

Any Catholics who are fans of Downtown Abbey will probably like it a lot, as well.

My favorite scene - well, there are a lot of them, including the upper class swells acting as strikebreakers, the final scene, the Last Rites scene (avoiding spollers here)…and the scene where Charles and Sebastian are sitting out on the patio drinking coffee after Sebastian returns from Mass, and Charles gingerly asks Sebastian if he believes “all that stuff” about the Nativity.
 
Totally agree, a wonderful series with so many things worthy of comment. I’m always struck by how well the actress Phoebe Nicholls brings the character of Cordelia Flyte to life. The passage where she describes the closing of the chapel at Brideshead is so poignant
 
Agreed also. I watched the whole thing over several days last summer.
 
It’s great to know others like this series too 👍

It was really well done - they don’t really make 'em like this anymore, as the saying goes. So many things have changed that I just don’t think a series like this could me made at this level again today on TV. Maybe private enterprises, like how Mel Gibson operated, or the way Bella was made by a group of Christian actors, will have to take over to provide entertainment in this vein from now on.

Now I have to go find the strikebreaker scene - that’s the only thing I don’t remember! The other ones mentioned are all also favorites of mine. Cordelia was perfect, but all the casting I thought was great.
 
WilliamOK said:
It’s great to know others like this series too 👍

It was really well done - they don’t really make 'em like this anymore, as the saying goes. So many things have changed that I just don’t think a series like this could me made at this level again today on TV. Maybe private enterprises, like how Mel Gibson operated, or the way Bella was made by a group of Christian actors, will have to take over to provide entertainment in this vein from now on.

Now I have to go find the strikebreaker scene - that’s the only thing I don’t remember! The other ones mentioned are all also favorites of mine. Cordelia was perfect, but all the casting I thought was great.
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I think they were strikebreakers or a Red Squad. All the upperclass Wodehousian aristrocrats, including Charles, joined some kind of militia and were issued clubs to beat down revolutionaries. It’s a pretty funny scene. There’s some really bizarre humor like that in the middle of everything else going on, as well as John Gielgud’s great performance as Charles’ eccentric father. I also love all the Chestertonian references.
 
Arizona_Mike said:
I think they were strikebreakers or a Red Squad. All the upperclass Wodehousian aristrocrats, including Charles, joined some kind of militia and were issued clubs to beat down revolutionaries. It’s a pretty funny scene. There’s some really bizarre humor like that in the middle of everything else going on, as well as John Gielgud’s great performance as Charles’ eccentric father. I also love all the Chestertonian references.
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I will look for it. Yes I also enjoyed John Gielgud, it seems he’s always good in whatever he does.
 
When was the movie made? I had heard so much about Brideshead Revisited and I was disappointed so maybe I saw the movie?
Has anyone read the book?
 
I have not read the book but it is one I do intend to read when time allows.Meanwhile here is a link which provides some background to the writing of the novel.

vanityfair.com/culture/2010/04/waugh-excerpt-201004

As he wrote in a memo to MGM who were considering making a movie of the book “The novel deals with what is theologically termed ‘the operation of grace’, that is to say, the unmerited and unilateral act of love by which God continually calls souls to himself….“the Roman Catholic Church has the unique power of keeping remote control on human souls which have once been part of her.”
 
DaddyGirl said:
I really liked this mini-series when it first ran. That Jeremy Irons–fabulous.

I watched this 12-minutes clip just now…but I didn’t hear her talk about how she believes the Catholic faith will save her brother.
Which part in the scene are you talking about?
She talks about how he has a room there (is it at a monastery?) and they like him and watch over him and that he has no dignity, etc…but I didn’t hear anything specific otherwise.
(did you put the correct clip link?)

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Start at the 46-minute mark, “he’ll show by the mere flicker of his eyelids that he is conscious when they give him the last sacraments…” And the rest is good as well. If you’re not Catholic you might not get it.
 
DaddyGirl said:
Oh, I see.
You mean “save” as in…save-his-soul kind of stuff?

I thought she was being sarcastic when she said that line about the sacraments!

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Ah I see, you completely missed it. Well, may “the force” be with you 🙂
 
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