Love in a Cold Climate

Nancy was the first to exploit the glittering vein of inside jokes and family legend that's sustained the Mitford industry for over fifty years, and when her two most popular books, the titular "Cold Climate" and the earlier "Pursuit of Love," were "adapted" (sliced and diced and drastically condensed) to fit this stingy two-episode format, there were bound to be a few loose ends. My brilliant wife, a fiction editor by trade, spotted a brief two-character scene that didn't seem to make much sense; it turned out to be a collage of the zingier lines from three different scenes involving two sets of characters and spread out over twenty pages. Do admit, Fanny!

Mitford loyalists will mourn the loss of Uncle Davey; they may also wonder why, say, on the page it's Aunt Sadie who can't talk horticulture with a dinner guest because she prefers to leave such matters to the gardeners whereas on the screen it's daughter Linda who can't identify the soup because she prefers to leave them to the cook.... Still, if the script is a little dodgy, the cast is just about perfect: Alan Bates, as Uncle Matthew, prowls the floor at a deb dance like a Rottweiler on parade; Celia Imbrie is delightfully distracted as Aunt Sadie; Elisabeth Dermot Walsh and Rosamund Pike are charming as lovely, clueless Linda and the all-seeing narrator, Fanny. Special mention goes to Jemima Rooper and Anna Popplewell as sex-mad innocents Jassy and Victoria. The earlier, 8-ep version, still available on disc, has more room for plot material (including Uncle Davey), but the younger characters aren't nearly as well cast.

Having read both of the books that this mini series is based on and recalling the excellent 1980 mini series, I looked forward to this new version with enthusiasm.

I have to say that on the whole I found it very disappointing. It certainly covered the bones of the story, but due to its short length, missed out on much of the humour in the original stories. It certainly looked good, casting was excellent, the period was conveyed very convincingly - but, because virtually none of the characters were properly introduced, I kept wondering "just who is this person". Anyone unfamiliar with the story would have found it confusing most of the time.

This was obviously not a cheap production, what a pity they didn't spend a bit more and do better justice to one of the classics of twentieth century fiction.

This is a beautifully made remake of Love in a Cold Climate, but whereas the 1980 series had seven episodes to tell us the story, this film tries to do it (and Nancy's Mitford's previous novel) in 150 minutes.

While the performances are done well, and the insights into the oddities of the English aristocracy are just as Mitford would have known them, there really isn't the time to offer deep characterisations, and explain people's motivations adequately. You feel you're only skating on the surface half the time, which is a pity.

If there had been more of it, I would almost certainly have rated it more highly.

This is generally brilliant entertainment even if the political bits are clichéd and pointless esp the Spanish War scenes. But Rosamund Pike (as Fanny) is utterly spellbinding . You'll rarely encounter such photogenic beauty on film. The camera adores her and so do I. Some may find this comment lacking in gravitas or even frivolous. But forgive me - I'm in love !!

Of course "Love in a Cold Climate" has more going for it. It's a superb insight into the foibles and eccentricities of that most fortunate of social groupings - the English aristocracy of the inter-war period where fascism masqueraded as inherited privilege.

And the whole period is lavishly recreated and technically superb. Alan Bates is great fun as the sewer hating head of house who makes ingenious use of a bureau drawer to soothe his volatile temper.

But all else matters not a jot. What stands this costume piece apart is the astonishing radiance of the exquisite Rosamund Pike. I wholeheartedly recommend this study of happy English whimsy.

Aside from them not including the characters of Emily (the aunt that actually raised Fanny) and Davey (who plays an even more important part), I think the casting is excellent. Sure Rosamund Pike looks nothing like what Mitford described Fanny as but she does embody the nature of Fanny. I can't think of who better to play Matthew and Sadie but Alan Bates and Celia Imrie. Davey played a very important part in the novels, and in this version they merely lump his part into Lord Merlin; and he was also the one of funniest part of the novels with his hypochondria. They also dismissed the eldest Radlett daughter, Louisa, as really she marries straight off but is the one who had the disastrous coming out ball. I thought it was a fun production nonetheless.