On B List of Movie Reviews

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The Barchester Chronicles (1982)

Rate: 3
Viewed: 5/16

5/16: When the news broke of Alan Rickman passing away, a lot of people made a mention of his breakthrough performance in The Barchester Chronicles and that it was a great miniseries.

So, I sought out a DVD copy and watched the whole thing. Man, it's torturous. I read a lot of classics and can keep up with the language. But in The Barchester Chronicles, the plot never advances, and everybody keeps dragging the same topic for nearly seven hours: the position of the hospital warden.

The miniseries is about pulling off the performances, chiefly the art of speaking perfect English, but there's little of everything else. If the filmmakers spent more time on the plot to balance the equation, it would've been enjoyable to watch. Honestly, the thespians are fine, and I have no complaints about any of them. Nobody stands out; they're all more or less the same.

All in all, The Barchester Chronicles has left me disappointed, and there's no reason for it to be seven hours long.

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