Birdsong Review
18.05.12
’ Joseph Mawle), whose friendship helps him to gradually let go of something that never was in favor of the things that could be.
Fans of the novel will quickly notice a glaring difference between the mini-series and the novel in its total lack of the third part of the puzzle: the “modern day” flashforward to the 1970s that made up a decent portion of the book. Though they might not like its omission, it allows the story to focus on two more entwined parts of the story, and it ultimately rounds out to a smart decision.
Both Redmayne and Poesy are great actors when the direction and writing can match them, but in this case they fail to carry through in making us believe Redmayne is a man forever changed by war and Poesy a sexually repressed wife (at different times, mind you). Redmayne never finds the correct body language to carry himself like a soldier and he always seems to maintain the same disposition that serves him well in the flashbacks to his pre-war life. The same can be said for many of the supporting soldier cast, they never successfully sell their characters. Poesy’s shortcomings have everything to do with the three-way tension between Stephen, Isabelle and her husband. Though the latter is played off in a minor role in that condescending “tut tut, women are mentally and emotionally infirm” way of olden times, it’s a key ingredient to the story and how convincing Isabelle’s discovery of fulfillment in Stephen’s arms appears. Her husband may be an ass, but she’s not altogether without her own self-defensive wits; she’s a capable woman who can see her husband’s bluster and posturing as a stroke of his ego, and that makes her desire or need for outside comfort less convincing.
Source: JustPressPlay
