Hornblower - Froschfresser und Rotröcke

I agree that the acting is phenomenal, I too wish to see Sam West and Robert Lindsay in other productions, but it seems that there is very little available by way of backtracking their other works. I am tickled every time Lord Edrington gives one of his dry little commentaries, he would make an awesome verbal adversary. I can't remember where I heard this quote but it pops into my head when I watch Sam West's portrayal of the redoubtable Lord Edrington, "It's difficult to fight a battle of the wits with the unarmed." Not that HH is 'unarmed', but Lord Edrington seems to leave the Naval folk deliciously speechless rather frequently.

^_^

Captain Pellew sends Hornblower to France with the French royalist Colonel Moncoutant (Anthony Sher.) He reminded me of Monsieur Faberge, a Brut.

The British have teamed up with their enemy with the hope of helping the royalists to overthrow the revolutionaries. Hornblower accompanied by Major Lord Edrington (Sam West) find that Moncoutant is too busy exacting revenge against the villagers they are based in. Hornblower falls for the beautiful schoolteacher.

It is not long before Pellew and Hornblower separately realise that this unholy union is doomed. Hornblower is appalled by what he sees the royalist soldiers do. Major Erdington a man of sardonic dry wit tries his utmost to keep things diplomatic with the French royalist soldiers and the angry Hornblower.

Less seafaring action in this one, especially as Pellew is struck as there is no wind for the sails of his ship. Romance is in the air for Hornblower with the schoolteacher who tries to keep her and the children safe.

There is character development for Archie Kennedy who becomes more experienced in battle, a good performance from Sam West and an over the top one from Anthony Sher.

The last (well, I hope not) in an extremely high-quality series following the travails of the honorable 18th-century naval officer, Horatio Hornblower. Performances and writing are exceptional, and so are the lessons that we (and Horatio) learn in this episode.

The "Horatio Hornblower" series has been a wonderful surprise. It is beautifully filmed, with enough period detail to make it seem real, while things are carefully explained to us so that it is not too obscure. We learn along with the new young officer Horatio. By the time of this, the fourth movie, he has developed confidence and values of his own, and they are sorely tested as he, a sailor, ends up in a French village contested by the Republicans and the Royalists. The performances are wonderful. I hope that there are more "Horatio's" in the works.

This is a wonderful finale to a wonderful series. It is not, in my opinion, the best of the lot, but that does not mean that it doesn't have it's strong points.

I skimmed Mr. Midshipman Hornblower, the book that these four films are based on. Consequently, as someone who enjoyed this particular chapter immensely, I could have skipped the love story - but then again, I'm not a romantic by any stretch of the imagination. I thought that because of time constraints, the whole thing was rather rushed. Falling in love in the course of a day is something for a sitcom, not a serious movie, but the actors did an amazing job with what they were given.

The good greatly outnumbers the bad. Ioan Gruffudd did a wonderful job as Horatio throughout the series and he remained consistent throughout this episode. I consider him to be a wonderful actor - the perfect one to play the young, gangly seventeen year-old who comes into his own gradually.

Gruffudd's performance was only accentuated by the brilliance of his dynamic co-star Robert Lindsay, himself an amazing actor. Lindsay's performance as the indomitable (and indefatigable) Captain Pellew was right on the mark.

The rest of the cast was wonderful, including poor Mariette, played by Estelle Skornik. I will never tire of watching Matthews, Styles and Oldroyd and Paul Copley, Sean Gilder, and Colin MacLachlan fit these roles perfectly. Jamie Bamber as Midshipman (Acting-Lieutenant) Kennedy also did very well. John Shrapnel as Charette affected a decent French accent, as did Antony Sher as the infamous Moncoutant.

One last praise goes out to the fabulous Sam West, admitibly one of my favorite actors. West does an amazing job portraying Major Edrington and that dry, upper-class sarcastic wit never fails to earn a grin from me. The character of Edrington is one of my favorites in the book and West does an amazing job portraying him.

I find it a horrible pity that wonderful actors such as these listed above have trouble finding roles in internationally acclaimed films. After seeing this particular film, I performed an extensive search for the above actors. Armed with a list of some of the ones I desperately wished to see, I visited all of the local movie stores. Apart from Howard's End (Sam West), Fierce Creatures (Robert Lindsay), and 102 Dalmatians (Ioan Gruffudd), I came up empty-handed. So, here I am, armed only with a taped version of the Frogs and the Lobsters.

You will not be disappointed with this film - at least I doubt you will. I have yet to find someone who didn't enjoy it throughly. The costuming is accurate, the characters wonderful, the story is gripping and the acting is phenomenal. I highly recommend it to just about anyone.