Die Dornenvögel

Very well done; highly watchable. Richard Chamberlain and Rachel Ward are okay as the tortured lovers, but the acting kudos go to Barbara Stanwyck and Christopher Plummer. Stanwyck won an emmy for her role and Plummer was nominated for his. (He should have won.) Ms. Stanwyck's final scene is wrenching--the emotion came straight out of her guts and no matter how many times I see it, it chokes me up. She was one of the greats and it shows in this performance. Christopher Plummer's portrayal of "Vittorio," Ralph's friend and mentor in the church, is delightful and oh, so perceptive. He sees right through Ralph and we see what he knows in his eyes--subtle and convincing; a good role for Plummer. Numerous plot lines, interesting locations, adventure, romance, tragedy, strong cast, great music, thought-provoking theme, engaging script--I recommend it!

Barbara Stanwyck at her best; as with Richard Chamberlain Rachel Ward shows much promise as an actress in the future. A beautiful love story. A mini-series that should not be missed. Needs to be shown again, a much too long wait for this era.

This was one of the most beloved love stories, right up there with Gone With the Wind, Somewhere in Time, and The Way we Were...I remember there was talk once on making a sequel to The Way we Were, and I thought please don't. In my mind Hubel and Katie eventually reunited. Again, in my mind things turned out wonderful for the Cleary's. I remember the series when it came out, I was 12, I understood sacrifice, torture, love, betrayal, hate, undying love from this movie---I never get bored of seeing this again and again. The passion these two had for each other--the love Father Ralph showed to God--his tortured soul of loving both, but only committing to one kept me on the edge till the end.

In my house, The Thornbirds is a go-to classic. I don't know if it is in yours, but if it isn't, rent it during a long weekend and it soon will be.

This sprawling epic takes place in Australia, focusing on one family's generational journey, the Clearys. Headed by Richard Kiley and Jean Simmons, the Clearys struggle with their sons and daughter as they run the family ranch with Barbara Stanwyck. As a little girl, the daughter Meggie develops a crush on Father Ralph, who is kind to her and her family. While the main storyline of the epic miniseries is the relationship between Father Ralph and Meggie when she grows up, there's so much more to this wonderful drama than a forbidden romance. Richard Chamberlain and Rachel Ward play the starcrossed lovers, and after watching The Thorn Birds, it'll be hard to see either of them in anything else. They are Meggie and Father Ralph.

This was an enormously successful miniseries, and for good reason. With a huge cast, including Bryan Brown, Piper Laurie, Christopher Plummer, Ken Howard, Mare Winningham, and Earl Holliman, a memorable theme, and a story full of romance, heartbreaking family relationships, religious conflicts, and the drama of finding and forgiving yourself, it's no wonder it won four Golden Globes (with four additional nominations) and six Emmys (with ten additional nominations). I could praise each actor's individual performance, but this review would turn into an essay. But if you're a Jean Simmons fan, she gives the best performance of her career in this miniseries. And if you loved Barbara Stanwyck in her youth, you'll be very touched to see her still feisty at 76 years old, reaching out to the audience and reminding them that there's still a young woman inside of her. Christopher Plummer makes for a very believable Archbishop, and Bryan Brown was so charming, he married his costar Rachel Ward!

The Thorn Birds gets its title from the legend of the particular bird. The birds pursue a beautiful rose, knowing there is a deadly thorn attached. They love the rose so much, they can't stand to be apart from it, and they end up impaled upon the thorn. Every character in this decades-long miniseries has a compelling love, one that isn't healthy and practically kills them just by loving it. The love can be a partner, a child, or even God. I won't spoil the plot, but it's a very emotional, tragic story. You'll fall in love, and you'll shake with sobs. If you don't go through an entire box of Kleenex, you need to take some time to find your heart. Then watch it again.

For anyone who has suffered through the slings and arrows of outrageous misfortune in love, this 1983 mini-series will touch their hearts like no other film or TV series ever made. The casting was perfect in every way to bring the story of the Australian Cleary family to life so vividly (Jean Simmons as the mother "Fee" won the Emmy Award that year; unfortunately Henry Mancini didn't for his gorgeous musical score, and he deserved to win!).

While the main thrust of this story and film appears on the surface to be the love of a Roman Catholic priest for a young girl whom he sees grow into adulthood, the underlying, truly poignant aspect of this story is about the long-term effects of what happens to children when mothers love one child more than another. This theme is the real heart tugger here. Meggie is an afterthought to her mother Fee until the very end of the story (Frank is her favorite child, even though he is troubled, because Frank was the love child of a pre-marital affair), and later on when Meggie becomes a mother Dane is her favorite child (also a product of a clandestine love), and her daughter Justine is the afterthought.

It is this basic lack of love that each child feels from his or her mother that determines the choices they make in life (i.e. Meggie choses to love someone who cannot commit to her, Justine choses to avoid love altogether and throw herself into acting to escape reality, Frank goes off and kills a man because he cannot deal with loving his mother too much, Ralph reveals his mother abandoned him early so he too inclines towards a non-committal type of love with Meggie and escapes through the church, etc.)

The pattern develops early and continues throughout the lives of the Clearys. That is why, to me, the most profoundly moving scenes in this entire series are right near the end: 1) when the old Fee has to tell Meggie that her son Dane has died, and she caresses Meggie's face for the first time in both their lives, and 2) the scene in the stable barn, between Meggie and Justine, as they confront the truth: that Meggie does love Justine, but Dane WAS the favorite child, for reasons beyond Justine's control. In hugging Fee and crying in grief, and in resolving her differences with Justine, Meggie finally finds the peace she needs in life; she is then able to let go of Ralph when the inevitable takes him from her for good.