|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
Frequently Bought Together
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Product Description
From Amazon.com
This moody BBC 2003 dramatization of the most notorious debacle in the history of the British Secret Service raises the specter of the treachery of Philby, Burgess, MacLean, and Blunt for a generation of viewers who can only imagine the shockwaves generated by their duplicity. Inevitably the story suffers from the basically repellent quality of its raw material. Determinedly nonjudgmental, it frequently stumbles along a precarious path between romantic eulogy and fact-based fable of the perils of idealism. For all the handsome casting, the characters have little charm to compensate for their deeds. Their motivations are sketched only vaguely. Even in moments of personal vulnerability, however poignant the performances, sympathy is at a premium. But it has its high points as an atmospheric soap opera: the recreation of a period that stretches from the radical aspects of 1930s university life at Cambridge to cold war London, dipping into the Spanish Civil War and the Washington diplomatic circle en route, is vivid. The acting, too, is fine. Tom Hollander's rampantly dissolute Burgess verges constantly on parody. But Toby Stephens (Philby), Samuel West (a frosty Blunt), and Rupert Penry-Jones (an emotionally wrung-out MacLean) work wonders with Peter Moffat's insubstantial script. --Piers Ford
Video Details
In 1934, four brilliant young men at Cambridge University are recruited to spy for Russia. Fueled by youthful idealism, a passion for social justice, a talent for lying and a hatred for fascism, the four take huge personal risks to pass Britain's biggest secrets to Moscow. Starring four of Britain's most talented young actors, this epic yet intimate drama brings one of the twentieth century's most compelling true stories to exciting new life.
See all Product Description
This moody BBC 2003 dramatization of the most notorious debacle in the history of the British Secret Service raises the specter of the treachery of Philby, Burgess, MacLean, and Blunt for a generation of viewers who can only imagine the shockwaves generated by their duplicity. Inevitably the story suffers from the basically repellent quality of its raw material. Determinedly nonjudgmental, it frequently stumbles along a precarious path between romantic eulogy and fact-based fable of the perils of idealism. For all the handsome casting, the characters have little charm to compensate for their deeds. Their motivations are sketched only vaguely. Even in moments of personal vulnerability, however poignant the performances, sympathy is at a premium. But it has its high points as an atmospheric soap opera: the recreation of a period that stretches from the radical aspects of 1930s university life at Cambridge to cold war London, dipping into the Spanish Civil War and the Washington diplomatic circle en route, is vivid. The acting, too, is fine. Tom Hollander's rampantly dissolute Burgess verges constantly on parody. But Toby Stephens (Philby), Samuel West (a frosty Blunt), and Rupert Penry-Jones (an emotionally wrung-out MacLean) work wonders with Peter Moffat's insubstantial script. --Piers Ford
Video Details
In 1934, four brilliant young men at Cambridge University are recruited to spy for Russia. Fueled by youthful idealism, a passion for social justice, a talent for lying and a hatred for fascism, the four take huge personal risks to pass Britain's biggest secrets to Moscow. Starring four of Britain's most talented young actors, this epic yet intimate drama brings one of the twentieth century's most compelling true stories to exciting new life.
See all Product Description
Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought
Jane Eyre (Masterpiece Theater) DVD ~ Susanna White  (15)
CDN$ 25.99
|
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall DVD ~ Mike Barker (11)
CDN$ 14.99
|
Dante's Cove: The Complete Third Season
CDN$ 21.99
|
Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont DVD ~ Dan Ireland  (2)
CDN$ 19.99
|
Twelfth Night DVD ~ Trevor Nunn (19)
CDN$ 12.88
|