L'espace d'une vie

I enjoyed this series from beginning to end. Jenny Seagrove was fantastic as the young Emma Harte. Deborah Kerr was magnificent as the older Emma Harte. It was wonderful seeing her again. Liam Neeson was great as Blackie. This is the story of the fictional Emma Harte, a Yorkshire girl who works her way up from lowly domestic servant to the head of her own mega empire. She outsmarts and outdeals some of the biggest tycoons in the world. She finds love and loses love, but never loses her Yorkshire country values. Unfortunately, she's the mother of a bunch of money hungry, backstabbing children who plot against her. Have no fear, she knows how to outsmart them. I won't reveal the ending. You've got to see it for yourself. It was awesome! The only part of this series that I didn't like was Barry Bostwick's portrayal of Emma's Australian boyfriend, Paul McGill. His accent was virtually non-existant. He should've played a Canadian. He was also a bit whimpy for the part. The role needed someone with more presence and strength. His performance was mediocre at best. I highly recommend this series and it's sequel, Hold The Dream. Rent them. You won't regret it.

As "chick" movies go, this is tops. The performances are very touching, giving life to many of the characters. Jenny Seagrove absolutely shines as Emma; with all the foolish mistakes she makes, you still root for her. Peter Chelsom gives a completely heartbreaking performance as the sheltered and confused Edwin. Liam Neeson, Gayle Honneycutt are convincing; and some of the voice dubbing (particularly the children seem to have "adult" voices) sounds very uneven. The costumes and settings are fabulous. After all, this is a made for TV mini-series, so given that limitation, this is quite outstanding! Blame the book for the anti-clamatic ending, not the film makers or actors. Watch the movie, then read the book to fill in the blanks. You'll agree, the movie is a really on-target adaptation for the most part.

Even the most hard-hearted will find it difficult to resist the spell of this stylish mini-series. The audience is put through the emotional mangle as spirited heroine Emma Harte endures every setback and hardship going, yet still wins through.

Part of the fascination of the series lies in the quite remarkable cast. Jenny Seagrove splendid as the indefatigable Emma ; a young Liam Neeson and Miranda Richardson ; dear old Barry Morse ; Deborah Kerr as the older Emma ; Christopher Guard as the blackguardly villain, who gets his comeuppance in one of the most satisfying scenes ; and Peter Chelsom, who went on to direct the hit British film "Hear My Song", as well as the less successful "Funny Bones".

Engrossing saga of a determined woman's climb to the pinnacle of success. Usually having two actresses share a lead minimizes the impact of that role but the excellent match up of Jenny Seagrove and the great Deborah Kerr avoids that here since they share more than a passing resemblance. Both give strong performances again matching in temperament for a seemly whole. Another great thing about these older minis is getting to see actors who went on to acclaim just starting out or prior to their breakouts. Such is the case with Miranda Richardson, who went from this straight into Dance With a Stranger, and particularly Liam Neeson who is terrific as the stalwart Blackie. Even at six hours though it still seems like it scrimps on some of the more interesting aspects of her business success for conventional romantic complications. Overall though an interesting show. Also worth checking out are the special features, in particular the one with Diane Baker who was the producer of this as well as playing a role and offers good insights into what goes into getting something like this made. If you are a fan of the hers and remember her from her late fifties early sixties heyday its great to see her looking so wonderfully well and still so lively.

The story follows the life of Emma Harte and her rise from a servant girl to the owner of a large empire of her own creation. The movie begins in the 1980's, but the bulk is Emma's recollection of her life from the age of 14 on (1900's-1940's.) Jenny Seagrove does a magnificent job portraying young Emma, and a young Liam Neeson plays the part of 'Blackie' wonderfully. This mini series matches the likes of 'The Thornbirds' and 'Pride and Prejudice' in it's acting and beautiful scenery, not to mention the story itself. Emma is a young woman of independence during a time when such a thing was a rarity. Definitely worth the 6 hours it will take you to watch it!