At the end of the first hour of this BBC Costumer, you may be tempted to forget the rest, as it appears to be somewhat dated--the color as dated a bit, the film techniques--and the plot establishment a bit slow; but stay the course! This excellent immersion in Victorian society is both informative and wonderfully acted, particularly by Francesca Annis as Lillie Langtry, who is seldom off the screen, playing a young woman whose strength of will develops as she copes with a society whose strictures are iron-clad. I can't recall when I've seen a better portrayal of Oscar Wilde and his immediate Bohemian Circle, Peter Egan brilliantly capturing his offhand wit and vulnerability; Denis Lill, too, as the Prince of Wales who becomes enamored of the "Jersey Lily" sent me to Wikipedia to discover more about the entire period; to someone who only knew of Lillie Lantry because of Judge Roy Bean's obsession with her in the John Ford movie My Darling Clementine, this lengthy series was mesmerizing; it's a colorful and involving recreation of a world long past.
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I almost gave up after watching the first few episodes of this mini-series, where the BBC fell back on its standard "close-up of unblinking female faces" instead of giving us a *clue* what the characters were thinking and why they were behaving the way they did.
I'm so grateful I stayed with the series. Once it got past Lillie's "awkward adolescence" (which seemed to be more a case of "awkward script-writing"), I almost couldn't stop watching. This is a lovely portrait of the Gilded Age. Francesca Annis does an outstanding job with her role as Lillie evolves from naive fawn through sharp, resilient businesswoman and into a more mellow old age.
Along the way we meet Oscar Wilde, written and played to perfection, Bertie Prince of Wales, John Whisler, Sara Bernhardt, Princess Alix, Disraeli and Gladstone, and a wide variety of others (both well-known today and the obscure) who made up a society that seems alien and totally contemporary at the same time.
I found myself dazzled by Langtry's audacity -- to my embarrassment, I even gasped alongside the characters on screen at times! Yet, like fictional heroine Scarlett O'Hara or scores of real-life trail-blazing women such as Elizabeth I, Langtry did what she had to do to create the life she desired. It wasn't all pretty, and the appalling double standards for women and men made some of her choices inevitable, but her courage and fierce intelligence took my breath away. The fact that Annis plays her not as a straight "conniving b***h" but as a complex woman pulled between her desire for independence and her need to love and be loved makes it that much more interesting. There are moments when one detests her character, only to be overtaken minutes later by her kindness and thoughtfulness.
The series suffers from very awkward cuts as it jumps forward in time at odd intervals. One wonders why they couldn't include a subtitle telling us the year at least! Like many BBC productions of the era, the sound is uneven and some of the editing a bit long and tedious. It also left some fairly large holes in the plot, such as the complete absence of Alice Keppel, Bertie's most famous mistress. But it's by far the best production I've seen from the BBC of that era. I found myself wondering what it would look like with "Forsyte Saga" production values today.
This would be a wonderful series to watch with teenagers in order to examine social mores. Themes of peer pressure, the "in crowd," double standards for men and women, sexual politics, class, and much more are present in almost every episode.
By the time the series was half over, I was already looking for a good biography of Lillie so I could know how much of the series was accurate. It's rare for a series to fire the imagination to such a great extent. A wonderful series, masterfully acted by Annis (as well as Denis Lill as Bertie and Peter Egan as Wilde). Highly recommended. -
TheLittleSongbird21 February 2010I found this biographical series truly fascinating. I was introduced to it by my grandmother, and I saw it with her, and I couldn't stop watching. "Lillie" is divine in every sense of the word, with sumptuous attention to detail, with the breathtaking scenery and lavish costumes. The music is beautiful and haunting, and the script is sophisticated enough. The story of Lillie, the woman ahead of her time, is compelling and maintains interest throughout. The performances are top notch, with Francessca Annis outstanding as Lillie, playing her with grace, determination and a great deal of charm. Peter Egan plays Oscar Wilde pretty much to perfection, and Anton Rogers is excellent as Langtry. Do I have any complaints about "Lillie"? Not of the mini-series itself, as I found it positively divine, but the picture quality was sometimes a little too grainy and washed out. Overall, I loved "Lillie" and recommend it. 10/10 Bethany Cox
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I have just watched the entire series and can only say how wonderful it was. Great acting (Annis, and Egan in particular) great scenery and costumes. Fantastic detail.
Nice to see appearances by Annette Crosbie, Michael Shannon and Stephanie Cole. Cameo appearance from Desmond Llewellyn too.
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I also wonder why nearly all the reviewers are saying this was a BBC production. I am sure LWT made it, In fact I am sure LWT made it. -
buckaroobanzai506 April 2015Here are just a quick few words in order to correct irish23 above;
This series was NOT made by the BBC but by the ITV (Independant Television) company LWT (London Weekend Television). LWT was a regional independent TV company which was financed by advertising and sales of programmes such as Lillie abroad. It only catered to the London area, but other regional ITV companies provided shows for other parts of the UK, such as Grampian in Scotland, and Tyne Tees in Newcastle. Unfortunately, the Conservatives de-regulated TV in the 1990s, and now all regions come under the "ITV" name.
The BBC, which continues to leech off its licence fee payers for revenue, made a series called The Dutchess of Duke St, about a similar female character making her own fame and fortune, without the aid of the men in her life.
Another ITV series was the far superior Upstairs Downstairs, which I seem to recall being repeated on Sunday nights in place of Lillie. -
A languid tale of late 19th century and early 20th century Britain and America. It tells the story of a gold digging, high class trollop, set against a background of high society, the theatre and horse racing. Francesca Annis playing the title character does a worthwhile job although at the beginning as a young and naive 15 year old the 33 year old actress was a little unbelievable. The vibe of the production was clearly 1970's TV drama with most of the action confined to interior sets due , I would say, cost restraints, although the costuming was at a high level. On the whole this mini series is worth a look but keep your expectations to a controllable level; it is no masterpiece.
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tedg25 January 2004Spoilers herein.
TeeVee demands filler, the longer the better, as long as some semblance of a story is present. This one is just like `A Woman of Substance:' a redhaired woman survives all sorts of setbacks to excel in a male dominated world. The hook is her character: shamelessly sexual and headstrong.
Add some costume texture and you can eat up 9 hours of space.
If you have the stomach for it - or just need to fill time - check out the implicit folding: this is a film which is superficial (costume) beauty repurposed for TeeVee and is about a professional beauty who repurposed her status from society hooker to stage celebrity.
Historically what we have is the first such engineering, a template that Hollywood would adopt with relish. Was Lillie the trailblazer for Clara Bow? Probably.
Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.