Strangers and Brothers

Found this little gem in a bargain bin!!!!

What a great find..lots of familiar actors in this series, not just Sir Anthony...Nigel Havers,Sheila Ruskin,Frederick Treves, Elizabeth Spriggs to name a few...what I like about this series (viewing it with 2010 ears) is its quietness...not like the fast-paced and gimmicky camera-work, and high speed editing of modern Brit dramas. And this one takes is leisurely time and pace like savoring a fine bottle of Port!! A step back in time, yes, and not to everyone's taste, but for those who love this style of period drama, it is well worth renting or borrowing from your local library, or like me, finding this treasure in the bargain bin at Walmart. Just the type of M.Theatre presentation that can be great viewing on a rainy afternoon when you can just lie back and enjoy.

What a Snorefest! I can't believe I watched the whole series. I have always liked the Masterpiece Theater BBC mini-series but this one was terrible. The characters are shallow, the story is boring and each episode moves at a snails pace. Most of the dialog is ridiculous and consists of the characters objectively talking about their emotions. Obviously they did this because we would have no clue what motivates them otherwise. Since the characters were so boring and two dimensional, I found I didn't care about Lewis Elliot or any one else. And as to Anthony Hopkins, he is not the star. He has a rather small part and is only in two episodes. Funny thing is, his character is probably the most interesting one in the series, but by the time he shows up, your already so bored your could care less. My advice, don't waist 13 hours of your precious time on this one. Yawn!

I found this series immensely satisfying - like a slice of Finnish black bread. Strangers and Brothers is an intellectual drama full of men and women who are strong and articulate. CP Snow's goal was certainly not to mirror mundane reality but to reflect through his characters British power in the world, its deflation, reorientation, and resilience, from the late 1930s to the mid-1960s, and to illustrate by way of one character the transition from socialist to establishment.

The characters are witty, complex, and intellectual; they struggle with history and conscience while they strive to navigate a nation through the first stages of the cold war.

I'm a great fan of Yes Minister, which treats politicians and civil servants with an equal dose of withering cynicism. Strangers and Brothers is a wonderful tonic to such appalling, effete politics. Here we find the caliber of people we'd like to believe are in government and other positions of power and policy-making.

Finally, central to Strangers and Brothers are the contrasting themes of existential aloneness and concern for one's fellow man and woman. This wonderful series is stimulating and mature, and makes me yearn for more movies of this quality.