Jeri
Jacquin
Coming
to 4K UHD, Bluray and currently on Digital from director Simon Curtis, Focus
Features and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment based on the story created
by Julian Fellowes is the ending of an era with DOWNTON ABBEY: The Grand
Finale.
It is
the 1930’s and the Crawley family is learning to literally change with the
times. Beginning with the visiting the London stage show with Guy Dexter
(Dominic West) and assistant Barrow (Robert James Collier). Lord Grantham (Hugh
Bonneville), Countess Cora (Elizabeth McGovern), Lady Edith (Laura Carmichael)
and husband Bertie (Harry Hadden-Paton) go backstage and meet the ever-popular
Noel Coward (Arty Froushan). It is the height of the season and the next
evening Lady Petersfield (Joely Richardson) has a ball and Lady Mary (Michelle
Dockery) is dressed to the nines. That is when Mary’s world comes once again
crashing as news of her marriage changes her social status.
Coming
back to England is brother Harold (Paul Giamatti) who is visiting to update
Cora on their late mother’s estate bringing advisor Gus Sambrook (Alessandro
Nivola). The family happily returns to Downton welcomed by butler Carson (Jim
Carter) who is turning over the reins to Andy (Michael Fox) under the watchful
eye of Mrs. Hughes (Phyllis Logan). He is not the only one retiring as Mrs.
Patmore (Lesley Nicol) is also preparing to depart Downton and leaving it in
the hands of Daisy (Sophie McShera). Anna (Joanne Froggatt) is still by Mary’s
side as is husband Bates (Brendan Coyle) caring for his Lordship. Baxter
(Raquel Cassidy) and Mr. Molesley (Kevin Doyle) are still part of the
downstairs staff as well. They all know what is happening with Lady Mary and,
as always, keep their knowing to themselves.
Arriving
at Downton as well is Tom Branson (Allen Leech) bringing daughter Sybbie (Fifi
Hart) to visit and be a support to the family and Lady Mary. Isobel (Penelope
Wilton) also comes to the family to talk about the upcoming family-community
event asking Daisy and Mr. Carson to be part of committee much to the dismay of
Sir Moreland (Simon Beale). If all of this wasn’t enough on the Crawley
calendar, decisions on changes that have Lord Grantham must now make in order
to keep their legacy growing.
Each
come to terms with where they have been in their time at Downton Abbey and know
that change is not always something to fear.
Other
cast include Paul Copley as Albert Mason, Douglas Reith as Lord Merton, Lisa
Dillon as Princess Arthur, Sarah Crowden as Lady Manville, Oliver Barker as
George, Eva Samms as Marigold, and Rose Galbraith as Lady Gwendoline.
Universal
Pictures Home Entertainment has just added an amazing film to their library and
making it available for us to all experience and re-experience in our own home
theaters. There are films of every genre available from scary to drama to
family films. For more of what they have to offer please visit www.uphe.com.
Focus
Features’ mission is to make a lasting impact on global audiences by creating
the home for artists to share diverse, distinctive stories that inspire human
connection. Focus Features is part of NBCUniversal, one of the world’s leading
media and entertainment companies that brings entertainment and news to a
global audience. For more of what they have to offer please visit www.focusfeatures.com.
Bonus
Features include Changing Times, Society Season – Lady Petersfield’s
Ball, Ascot Race and the Country Show, Authentic to the Core, A Farewell to
Fans, DOWNTON ABBEY Celebrates The Grand Finale and Feature Commentary
with Director Simon Curtis and Actress Elizabeth McGovern.
Now,
let me get my Downton Abbey teapot of Earl Grey, teacup/saucer and my delicate
plate of madeleines and box of tissues before I start this. Okay, here we go –
I
accidentally discovered DOWNTON ABBEY in 2011 while watching another success
story with The Great British Baking Show. For year, those shows were my Sunday
night back-to-back fun that I could not get enough of. The cast of DOWNTON
ABBEY drew me in immediately (as I am a huge fan of period pieces in television
and film) and the storyline was riveting, powerful and thought provoking. The
Crawley family, being led by Lord Grantham, are important to the community
providing positions in the household as well as farming. From the beginning,
the family dynamics were so interesting with Cora being the American wife and
three daughters who were clearly so very different. Navigating their world from
two different perspectives and finding themselves lost occasionally, Robert and
Cora were the stabilizing force of Downton. All of it played beautifully by
Bonneville and McGovern with an ending that they deserved that was graceful and
loving.
Mary,
Edith and Sybil were headstrong, insecure, lovely and met the challenges that
the world brought them. Mary found Matthew, Edith found Bertie and Sybil found
her prince charming in Tom Branson. Dockery as Mary saw more than her fair
share of difficulties but the fact is, when the time came, she knew how to
stand tall no matter who tries to knock her down in a time where women
scratched harder than we, today, could have imagined. Carmichael as Edith began
as a shrinking violet in life, love and an older sister who, at times, was not
very nice. Yet, the more she experienced, the more she literally grew and
deserved a loving and happily ever after. Findlay played Sybil for years and
has never been forgotten season after season up until the last.
Stevenson
played Matthew and he, as well, was not forgotten for Mary and I adored that
about her. Patton as Bertie gave us a man who was content in his life and when
it turned around, he became secure in who he was to become with Edith at his
side. Now let’s talk Branson, Leech gave us a bit of Irish rebellion while
wearing a chauffer’s uniform. He loved Sybil, lost himself in trying to mix
working class with Downtown Abbey and it was a story within itself. I loved
watching Leech grow and it was so well done.
Downton
could not have been without the staff who kept the household together beginning
with Mr. Carson. His story began as a young man working in the Crawley
household working his way up to butler and always keeping an eye on Lady Mary.
He was tough, secretly gentle but always, always put Downton first! That caused
a few eyerolls from Mrs. Hughes, played by Logan, who was a woman of straight
talk, a shoulder to cry on and believed that every person in service could be
more than they could ever have imagined. Sharing the downstairs was the woman
behind the dinners as Mrs. Patmore, played by Nicole, who made the kitchen her
place of creation with pride in those she cooked for. Keeping her company was
McShera as Daisy, a wide eyed, questioning and sometimes moody “sous chef” who
often wondered if she’d ever be as good as her mentor. She does finally find a
life with Andy, played by Fox, who shares his story of climbing the ladder of
service but with a subdued character that made him instantly likeable.
Taking
care of Mary’s needs was Froggat’s Anna, a woman with heart, soul and a person
that trouble seems to follow on the regular. I just adored the character of
Anna as such a stable force among the downstairs and even when her life was
just in shambles, she found her way back. Mr. Bates might have had something to
do with that strength; Coyle is a man wounded by war but finds a safe space and
a kinship with Lord Grantham while also being the man who takes care of the
head of house. When his life becomes a roadmap of chaos, it is Anna that helps
him consistently so watching their ending in this film was everything anyone
could have hoped for.
Mr.
Moseley, played by Doyle, is the insecure bumbler of a footman who always seems
to find himself on the ins and then the outs of Downton until he accidentally
stumbles into a line of work that he enjoys and provides. It also gives him a
chance at love with Miss Baxter; Cassidy portrays her as a woman who is used
for his back history until the day she stood tall and made a new life for
herself. Who was using that back history? Well, that would be Mr. Barrow played
brilliantly by James Collier. This actor spent years perfecting the man who we
all loved to hate and then love again. A mixture of complexities had everyone
guessing every episode whether we all wanted to shake him or hug him. In the
finale, Barrow finds the missing piece of his life in silent film actor Guy
Dexter played by West.
Wilton
as Isobel takes the center controls with the absence of Maggie Smith as the
Dowager Violet Crawley. Taking the lead in representing the family for the
township, I adore her ability to remain steadfast and even cutting when she
needed to be and what a relationship between Isobel and Violet that can never
be matched or repeated ever again. In the final film, West returns as Dexter to
say his final farewells to the Crawley’s and brings along Noel Coward in the
form of Froushan and I loved every moment he was on screen. Giamatti returns as
Cora’s brother Harold and is taught a lesson in sisterly tough love but knows
he can always come ‘home’.
The
film is stunningly beautiful with the costuming, the score is everything we
have come to know and memorable and, of course, Downton Abbey itself in the
form of Highclere Castle. Every time a vintage car pulled in it was the light
sound of pebbles below the tires, the front door castes and the sound of the
click of the latch, the library that held so many teas, the staircase that is
surrounded by stunning artwork, the gallery that overlooked so many events, the
lush green vast lawn that anyone would be happy to stroll along – all of it,
breathtaking. There are many castles in Europe but to Downton Abbey fans, there
is only one that stole our hearts. Not stolen really, more like held onto it
until the saga came to its conclusion, then returned it to us with a bow and a
‘thank you’ for the years of dedication we also had to the show.
Finally,
to creator Julian Fellowes, how can this woman ever thank you for your
thoughtfulness, your ability to tell an amazing story that has kept the world
captivated and talking, the time it took for your imagination to find its way
onto paper then screen and for taking us all year after year on a journey as
the world changed in so many ways for Downton and its inhabitants. These
characters grew, changed, felt their worlds collapse only to be rebuilt into
something stronger, found amazing joy, unexpected friendships, death of beloved
characters and birth of new additions to the family. Thank you for giving me
Violate Crawley in the body of Maggie Smith, the woman who had my heart and
spoke the words I always wanted to on so many occasions. You kept her front and
center even after we all had to say goodbye. It was all you sir, and the words
‘thank you’ feel not enough to express what you have brought to us all.
As I
sit here and sit the last drop of my tea, I am comforted in the knowledge that
right behind me is a Blu-ray of every season of DOWNTON ABBEY as well as the
films that followed. Anytime I wish, I can return to the characters that I have
loved so much. DOWNTON ABBEY: The Grand Finale was a hard watch, yes. Kleenex
worthy? Absolutely. There are moments that just wrecked me and when the credits
rolled on my television screen. It was an extraordinary experience and, I will
remember it. Or, in the words of the beloved and iconic Dowager, “My dear, a
lack of compassion can be as vulgar as an excess of tears”.
In the
end – the time has come to say goodbye!
