Comments on: Birdsong: My Reaction to the PBS Special

By: Somersaulting Through Life

Somersaulting Through Life — Tue, 01 May 2012 19:11:28 +0000

I’d like to watch this one! I am a great fan of Eddie :)

By: sshaver

sshaver — Tue, 01 May 2012 15:06:32 +0000

Can’t take the battle scenes.

God bless our vets.

By: Virginia McMillan

Virginia McMillan — Tue, 01 May 2012 04:34:18 +0000

My father left Oak Park Illinois at age twenty and joined the French Ambulance Corps..Until the end of his life at seventy-five, he awoke screaming almost every night in remembrance of what he saw in the trenches.An entire generation of fine men was lost……the best of the best. Honor, country and duty was everything then……worth the enormous sacrifice. How little these men count now in this selfish world…..Virginia McMillan

By: Maria Grazia

Maria Grazia — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 22:09:30 +0000

I really liked this series when I saw it on BBC and I hope I will find the time to read Sebastian Faulks’s novel next summer. I’m working on the War Poets from WWI these days and reading their poems and pages from Pat Barker’s Regeneration. I’d like to work on Birdsong with my students next year. Thanks for sharing, Vic.

By: Jo-Ann Power

Jo-Ann Power — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 20:01:26 +0000

Superbly done rendering of the period and the book, BIRDSONG gives us also an introduction to what is becoming the 100th anniversary of the beginning of “the war to end all wars.” Seeing the carnage of the battle of the Somme, et al, we know this World War should horrified us enough.
Thank you for your comments and the photos.

By: Tony Grant

Tony Grant — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 19:13:01 +0000

Anglophile. I think you are under a misunderstanding.

“and was so grateful that Masterpiece made it.”

All these programmes, Jane Austen, Downton Abbey, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Birdsong and many more are made by the BBC and sold to Masterpiece Classics. They are made here in England. Masterpiece Classics might employ an editor to redit some of them to fit your time and advertising schedules.

As for Birdsong by Sebastian Faulkes, the novel is worth reading. It gives a very good background to the First World war and can inspire further delving and research. The programme I thought was done well. Some of the battle field scenes were harrowing. The love scenes between Isabelle and Stephen were hot!!! Stephens reserve at the start of their relationship was probably not muted enough for a real portrayal of 1914. People would have been even more reserved and formal at first.

By: Vic

Vic — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 13:47:14 +0000

Patty, I understand. People either loved or hated the show, and critics were sharply divided. Some viewers could not see the chemistry between the lovers, but I liked the restrained quality. I had to start watching this presentation twice, which is one of the reasons why I placed the post on my blog so late. But then, when I became involved with the story, I couldn’t wait to see how things would turn out. Eddie Redmayne grew on me, and I was thankful that the harsh battle scenes were softened with the beautiful, almost elegiac score. I have not read the book, which I suspect helped me to appreciate the film for what it is.

By: Patty

Patty — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 13:40:41 +0000

Vic,

This is a rare time when I disagree with you. I found it difficult to watch and very slow and predictable. There was not chemistry between the so called romantic leads. I turned it off and kept trying it again but couldn’t watch either episode in its entirety. The scene with the drunk saved from jumping off the balcony was so slow and trite.

By: Jan Reber

Jan Reber — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 13:39:38 +0000

I, too, must agree with your assessment. To be honest, I loved it then hated it (being a romantic at heart, I wanted a happy ending for Stephen and Isabelle). But I have found my thoughts wandering back to the beauty and power of the story and the visual images juxtaposed therein. In the final analysis, I loved it.

By: anglophile

anglophile — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 10:39:09 +0000

Thank you for you clear impressions. I agree. I had loved this book….loved it, and was so grateful that Masterpiece made it because, odds are, it would be made right. Bird Song was exquisite, beautifully cast, directed and edited. Yes, it is so important for all of us to support PBS. We are so lucky to be able to see good drama, hear wonderful language and experience works of value.

By: Ramona DeFelice Long

Ramona DeFelice Long — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 10:27:37 +0000

I agree with your review and have enjoyed Masterpiece’s adaptation. The Battle of the Somme and the work by miners in the tunnels was painful, in the least, to watch onscreen. If you have not read Sebastian Faulk’s novel, I suggest you do. Like this film, it was written in an eposidic style and is honest and brutal in its depiction of trench and tunnel warfare.