Hornblower - Il diavolo e la duchessa

Hornblower(Gruffudd, showing a strong sense of honor) is escorting a Duchess(Lunghi, a woman who speaks her mind), when his luck seems to start running out - he and his men are captured and imprisoned. He maintains his composure, and plans an escape. But will his men keep trusting him to take care of the situation? Things are made no better by midshipman Hunter(Fulford, a man of short temper) second-guessing the acting lieutenant's decisions, and a surprise or two are revealed while our friends are captives.

This goes into the application of force and a direct approach, vs. the use of wit and outsmarting the enemy, to solve conflicts. As in the film immediately prior to this, there is no "villain", it is merely a question of a difference of perspective, and, as usual, everyone is a fleshed out human being. Performances, production values, filming(very little reveals that it's made for TV), stunt work, realism(with small details that say so much without being obvious), all highly impressive.

This takes risks by confining its cast, and thus the audience, to a single location, a jail, for the vast majority of the running time. While there are tense situations, and not everything looks bad, this does recreate the tedious nature of such an existence, and a palpable sense of hopelessness, of never being able to get out. Themes gone into include strength of character, duty, nobility, etc.

There is disturbing, brutal and bloody violent content in this. I recommend this to any fan of drama. 8/10

wow, wow, wow, so deep and ensnaring, can't look away! This particular episode is one of my favorites, amazing, and M'Man Kennedy AKA Jamie Bamber is so good in this one! loved it! If i could vote higher than 1- outa 10, i would, hit the mark for good plot line, characters, climax, summary, music, everything was good and then some! I loved it, in case you hadn't already guessed!! If there was thing i would say about it, though is that there wasn't enough screen time for the 'duchess' but aside from that, it was good, and the music was especially good in this episode, the exiting music and it tied the whole movie, i like the fact that, unlike movies such as Master and Commander, it didn't think it was unnecessary to put in background music, it gives the whole episode a bit of light, well done, very well done.

The Hornblower books were an excellent read. Though it has been nearly 30 years since I have read them, they are fondly remembered. This long film which has been separated into four episodes for television is very representative of Horatio Hornblower and what he stood for. The filming is outstanding, the costuming great, the models extremely realistic, in fact the first three episodes are truly outstanding television in themselves. The lead player, the young Welsh actor, Ioan Gruffud (spelling) is good looking, athletic enough for the extracurricular activities and very realistic. There are a number of secondary players in some of the episodes if not all. Robert Lindsay, who reminds me of the American actor famed for the Usual Suspects and L.A. Confidential, Kevin Spacey, is also outstanding. An English actress whose name is something like Cherry Lunghi and the wonderful English actor who play the Russian expatriot, Yaki, in the memorable Masterpiece Theatre series, Fortunes of War, are also very welcome. This is a series well worth seeing.

This is a comment not only on the superb production as a whole, which is very authentic from a historical perspective, and gives the viewer a true sense of what life was like in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, but also to praise an excellent performance by Robert Lindsay, who plays Captain Sir Edward Pellew. As a student of military history, I was very pleased with this production as a whole, and Griffudds' Hornblower is well done. But Lindsay, as the redoubtable Sir Edward is priceless. Just the right blend of old navy correctness, upper-class haughtiness, and berely concealed pride in his young protegee. Hornblower, with whom he is careful not to appear overly fond, is most determined to do his job and please his captain, whom he worships. Pellew recognizes the seeds of greatness in the young man and sheperds him along with scant vocal praise but strong career-enhancing opportunities. Lindsay is very likaable and proper, and I want to see more o of his work. I hope to see more of the Hornblower series in the future, as Ioan Griffudd continues to grow and prosper.

Unlike the prior two movies this one really breaths as a piece of cinema. I don't know if the director was given more time or money but the naval atmosphere is a lot strong here. The final sequence is one of the better action scenes I have seen done in the TV format. And of course this films continues the sharp writing and great acting of the prior two.