MikeK
Gold Member
This PBS Masterpice special airs at 9PM, Sundays. In addition to being very entertaining it is an interesting and exceptionally revealing look at the relationship between the nobility and the servant class in England's post-Victorian era. While we middle-class, relatively belligerent Americans harbor an innate contempt for the concept of voluntary servitude the ultra-civilized Brits had refined the arrangement to the level of a dignified and respected profession.
The Remains of The Day, (Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson) was the first movie I'd seen that showed the servants of an aristocrat's house to be more than animated, impersonal fixtures. Gosford Park took a step closer in terms of relationship but treats the servants as secondary objects. Downton Abbey focuses on the lives and personal experiences in the structured hierarchy of servants who tend the house of a high-ranking British lord.
The Remains of The Day, (Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson) was the first movie I'd seen that showed the servants of an aristocrat's house to be more than animated, impersonal fixtures. Gosford Park took a step closer in terms of relationship but treats the servants as secondary objects. Downton Abbey focuses on the lives and personal experiences in the structured hierarchy of servants who tend the house of a high-ranking British lord.
Last edited: