This England (2022)

[James Luckard]

The excellent miniseries THIS ENGLAND will be released on February 20 by Dazzler:



(The listing on the website here still has the old release date of Jan 30)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/This-Englan...dp/B0BMWC5PF8/

It's a difficult watch, but very powerful.

While Kenneth Branagh stars as Boris Johnson, he's only in maybe 1/3 of the series, it's not just about the halls of power. It's an epic portrait of the entire UK health system as it deals with the first wave of COVID and nearly collapses. Winterbottom said they interviewed people across the country, and that the fictionalized narratives set in hospitals, care homes (nursing homes) and private homes across the UK all come from the accounts of survivors and family members.

I found it very moving, but be prepared, it doesn't really have a narrative structure. It's somewhat like Contagion, moving back and forth betweewn dozens of characters trying to combat the growing pandemic, but there are also lengthy sequences with ordinary people. It can become a tiny bit hard to follow all the strands at times, because there are so many, but I found it very powerful.

Michael Winterbottom co-wrote and produced it, and intended to direct the entire series, but had to pull out early in filming due to health issues. The miniseries was completed by three other directors who are also former collaborators of his: frequent "The Crown" director Julian Jarrold, Winterbottom's usual second unit director Anthony Wilcox, and documentary filmmaker Mat Whitecross.

[McCrutchy]

I'm very intrigued to see this. Dazzler have been doing great work putting out UK series on Blu-ray. I wish the BBC would take note, as it's particularly embarrassing to see them splash out on expensive limited series and then put them out on DVD only.

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by McCrutchy

I'm very intrigued to see this. Dazzler have been doing great work putting out UK series on Blu-ray. I wish the BBC would take note, as it's particularly embarrassing to see them splash out on expensive limited series and then put them out on DVD only.

Just be prepared, it's REALLY tough to watch, at times.

It's done in Winterbottom's usual documentary style, so it feels much more real, especially in the scenes without recognizable actors. There are lengthy sections of people dying in hospitals and care homes, and it feels like you're really there. The elderly people truly don't even seem like actors, nor do the nurses, etc. I'm really curious to know how they got such a sense of realism. Hopefully, the BD will have some sort of making-of, all I could find online was a 5-minute puff piece that Sky put on YouTube.

Also, be prepared, much as it's billed as a Branagh show, and he's great in it, he's in probably 1/3, at most, not joking. It's really a portrait of the whole country, focusing most on caregivers on the front lines. It was just easier to market it (very misleadingly) as 100% Branagh.

[Yurakucho]

I was looking forward to this, mainly for Branagh playing Boris.
Unfortunately, it was a disgusting propaganda show of zero entertainment value.

Dominic Cummings is once again portrayed as a mad genius who switches from saying the elderly deserve to die of covid because they've been having it too good (any evidence he said this, producers?) but alas a quick glance at his laptop later and our genius has grasped the full threat of covid and has gone mega-lockdown. His escapade to Barnard Castle is tedious and uneventful.

Branagh's Boris just spouts historical and literary quotes for 99% of the time, very awkwardly. Bizarre. The show also tediously focuses on his supposed disconnect with his previous wives and children, him leaving them awkward voice messages and, when down with covid, dreaming of them shouting at him in a field.

Matt Hancock is probably the best acted, but they go out of their way to make sure he mentions "the media won't like this!" many times when dealing with super serious and professional scientists and pseudo-scientists.

None of the other politicians have much screen time. Dominic Raab in particular bears no resemblance and is just some guy.

Chris Whitty makes a brief appearance at the end, and is portrayed as someone who is actually quite sceptical about lockdowns. Hmmm. Not the way I remember it.

But if you're looking for scathing political satire or insight, be aware that the majority of the show focuses on care homes and hospitals dealing with covid patients. Once they had one full episode of this stuff, I thought that would be it. But no, this is pretty much the whole show. If it's totally beyond your imagination what a hospital multidisciplinary team meeting looks like, or what old people spitting into cups, or people being fitted with ventilators, or people/their relatives being told that they're gonna be okay/they're gonna die looks like, then maybe you'll find this entertaining. Oh, and this is all done with the totally un-subtle hint that the government is responsible for absolutely everything and if only we'd have had a faster, stronger, longer Chinese-style lockdown this would have all been avoided. At no point do the nurses break out into TikTok dancing. The negative effects of lockdown are never discussed.

So folks, if you think a Blu-ray of this series will reassure you that, in spite of everything, you were right all along and everyone agrees with you, attach your favourite face mask, sit back, take your 14th booster, and enjoy.

[Olmo]

Originally Posted by Yurakucho

I was looking forward to this, mainly for Branagh playing Boris.
Unfortunately, it was a disgusting propaganda show of zero entertainment value.

Dominic Cummings is once again portrayed as a mad genius who switches from saying the elderly deserve to die of covid because they've been having it too good (any evidence he said this, producers?) but alas a quick glance at his laptop later and our genius has grasped the full threat of covid and has gone mega-lockdown. His escapade to Barnard Castle is tedious and uneventful.

Branagh's Boris just spouts historical and literary quotes for 99% of the time, very awkwardly. Bizarre. The show also tediously focuses on his supposed disconnect with his previous wives and children, him leaving them awkward voice messages and, when down with covid, dreaming of them shouting at him in a field.

Matt Hancock is probably the best acted, but they go out of their way to make sure he mentions "the media won't like this!" many times when dealing with super serious and professional scientists and pseudo-scientists.

None of the other politicians have much screen time. Dominic Raab in particular bears no resemblance and is just some guy.

Chris Whitty makes a brief appearance at the end, and is portrayed as someone who is actually quite sceptical about lockdowns. Hmmm. Not the way I remember it.

But if you're looking for scathing political satire or insight, be aware that the majority of the show focuses on care homes and hospitals dealing with covid patients. Once they had one full episode of this stuff, I thought that would be it. But no, this is pretty much the whole show. If it's totally beyond your imagination what a hospital multidisciplinary team meeting looks like, or what old people spitting into cups, or people being fitted with ventilators, or people/their relatives being told that they're gonna be okay/they're gonna die looks like, then maybe you'll find this entertaining. Oh, and this is all done with the totally un-subtle hint that the government is responsible for absolutely everything and if only we'd have had a faster, stronger, longer Chinese-style lockdown this would have all been avoided. At no point do the nurses break out into TikTok dancing. The negative effects of lockdown are never discussed.

So folks, if you think a Blu-ray of this series will reassure you that, in spite of everything, you were right all along and everyone agrees with you, attach your favourite face mask, sit back, take your 14th booster, and enjoy.

'Let the bodies pile high' was oft referenced in headlines and attributed to Johnson not Cummings IIRC.

One would think him the type to sue were it not accurate.

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by Yurakucho

So folks, if you think a Blu-ray of this series will reassure you that, in spite of everything, you were right all along and everyone agrees with you, attach your favourite face mask, sit back, take your 14th booster, and enjoy.

I still wear a face mask in most crowded situations (grocery store, movie theater, etc) and haven't had COVID yet (fingers crossed). I'm on 4 shots and counting, and grateful for them. I'll gladly have my 14th, if that becomes necessary, a few years down the road. I couldn't care less if everyone agrees with me. I've accepted that many don't.

And, yes, I enjoyed this series.

Could it have been tightened a bit down from 6 episodes, totaling about 4.5 hours? Yes. But was it made with exceptional sympathy and humanity and intelligence? Yes.

Based on the comments above, it seems there might be a political divide in who should try watching this series.

Which is funny, because most of the British reviews of the series focused on trashing it for going too easy on Johnson and making him look too heroic, because it was filmed in early 2021 and held for 18 months before it was broadcast, for some inexplicable reason, by which point the "Partygate" story had come out. Winterbottom said he had no intention of altering the series because of that news, and he didn't.

[Yurakucho]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

Based on the comments above, it seems there might be a political divide in who should try watching this series. Which is funny, because most of the British reviews of the series focused on trashing it for going too easy on Johnson and making him look too heroic

From Wikipedia: "The [incredibly left wing, pro-lockdown] Guardian and [incredibly left wing, pro-lockdown] New Statesman felt the series was overly sympathetic to Johnson." I can't claim to have read every British review of the series (maybe you have?) but that doesn't seem to be a fair cross-section of "British reviews."

I think the series portrays Boris fairly (when Branagh isn't staring out of a window quoting Shakespeare) as a bumbling, spineless traitor totally powerless to put up any serious opposition to a groupthink obsession with damaging lockdown restrictions.

I wish the series had portrayed events later on, such as the disgraceful press conference on 8th December 2021 in which Boris hinted that they may introduce mandatory vaccinations, as Europe was doing at the time (i.e. get vaxxed or get fined).

The inclusion of Cummings' "let the elderly die" quote is basically a dramatisation of a single March 2020 Sunday Times article, vehemently denied by the government, in relation to Cummings' supposed early support for herd immunity. Not heard accusations of this anywhere else, including Matt Hancock's diaries (he hates Cummings, would surely have mentioned it). Indeed, Cummings now criticises the government for supposedly initially pursuing herd immunity. Who knows. Well, not the filmmakers - nor do they care - a single article is enough to justify a hit job on Cummings, apparently. In May 2021 Cummings explained that threats against his family (due to the widely-held belief he was pushing for herd immunity) were the reason he moved them out of London - if the series was originally due to air around this time, perhaps this is why it was delayed, given that it repeats these accusations. (I say 'accusations', herd immunity was totally the right thing to do.)

[James Luckard]

Just to be clear, there is a title card at the end of the series, among about a dozen others, which does mention Partygate, along with a clip of the real Johnson speaking about it, it's not avoided 1000%, but it's not dramatized at all, they didn't go back and film any new scenes with the actors, even though the series covers the period when some of those events were happening.

Winterbottom got asked about this endlessly when he was promoting the series as it was broadcast last fall.

[CelestialAgent]

I think for some people it might be too soon, having already lived through those events, like how She Said underperformed. Though sometimes fictionalisation does happen quickly, like The Salisbury Poisonings, All the President’s Men, W, Patriot’s Day, The 15:17 to Paris, Thirteen Lives or some of the early 70s films about Manson, Vietnam, Jonestown.

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by CelestialAgent

I think for some people it might be too soon, having already lived through those events, like how She Said underperformed. Though sometimes fictionalisation does happen quickly, like The Salisbury Poisonings, All the President’s Men, W, Patriot’s Day, The 15:17 to Paris, Thirteen Lives or some of the early 70s films about Manson, Vietnam, Jonestown.

I agree, people will have to decide if it's too soon for them to watch it, but Winterbottom got asked this a lot when the show came out, and he said he felt it was important to film the series when everything was still fresh. I agree with him, and I'm grateful we have this show.

There can be another miniseries done in five or ten years that really gets into all the things we may not even know yet about that period, but this feels almost like a document of what was being experienced, and that was clearly his intention.

It's very much like Paul Greengrass's United 93. Some people felt that was too soon as well, even five years after the event. It's difficult to know when all people will finally feel comfortable with a traumatic event being dramatized.

I have enormous respect for Winterbottom diving in and making films about things like this. There was his underrated film A Might Heart about Marianne Pearl during the period when her husband was kidnapped and then murdered by terrorists. Or his film Welcome to Sarajevo, which he shot in Sarajevo just after the cease-fire. He's done this kind of thing many times.

You make a very good comparison mentioning The Salisbury Poisonings. That was an excellent series, and this is done in a very similar style.

[James Luckard]

Also, can I just say how grateful I am to Dazzler for continuing to release European TV on BD.

I now own Luca Guadagnino's We Are Who We Are, Russel T Davies's It's A Sin and soon this from them.

In each case, they're the only company in the world to risk releasing them on BD.

They never would have had US BDs, the market here for European TV on BD is non-existent. And even if we had gotten BDs, they'd have been slowed down to 24fps for US systems. I'm especially grateful to have these 25fps BDs, so people's voices don't sound strangely deep.

[CelestialAgent]

I assume a lot of the BBC/ITV series never get aired in the US (though the same can be said for US series never making it over here), and releasing Sky titles is important as lots of people only have Freeview rather than satellite.

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by CelestialAgent

I assume a lot of the BBC/ITV series never get aired in the US (though the same can be said for US series never making it over here), and releasing Sky titles is important as lots of people only have Freeview rather than satellite.

We Are Who We Are and It's A Sin both aired on HBO here, but HBO never releases BDs of European TV, and rarely even does BDs of their own American programming anymore.

[James Luckard]

As I said, depending on your politics, this miniseries may not be for all viewers.

I did read more British reviews than just those two, but I honestly don't remember which ones.

I'll choose not to engage with the rest of that comment, so this thread doesn't get locked.

[James Luckard]

On an artistic level, I think the series is really impressive.

The score, by regular Soderbergh collaborator David Holmes, seems to owe a bit to Clilff Martinez's score for Soderbergh's Contagion, but I really liked it.

The entire series is beautifully photographed, and skillfully directed. Honestly, if you didn't check the credits, you wouldn't know it had three different directors, aside from Winterbottom. They achieve a common style pretty effortlessly - clearly staying in line with Winterbottom's usual faux-documentary style. I'd be genuinely curious to know how much he filmed before he stepped away.

Also, his reason for stepping away was SUPER vague in all the coverage I saw. Most reports said it was for unspecified health reasons, but other more gossipy reports said it was because of a difference of opinion between Winterbottom and Sky about some of the content in the series.

What's interesting is that he was front and center when it came time to promote it, 18 months after it was filmed, so I guess everything worked out.

When he did promote it, however, he made no secret of his tremendous annoyance with Sky for renaming the series.

It was supposed to be called "This Sceptred Isle," a quote from the same passage in Shakespeare's Richard II as "This England." Branagh recites the passage in the opening episode.

The original title was clearly intended sardonically/ironically. Sky seemed to change the title to either avoid that barbed element, or just because they thought people wouldn't know what it meant, it wasn't clear. But Winterbottom brought his irritation about this up in almost every interview.

[edmonddantes]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

On an artistic level, I think the series is really impressive.

The score, by regular Soderbergh collaborator David Holmes, seems to owe a bit to Clilff Martinez's score for Soderbergh's Contagion, but I really liked it.

The entire series is beautifully photographed, and skillfully directed. Honestly, if you didn't check the credits, you wouldn't know it had three different directors, aside from Winterbottom. They achieve a common style pretty effortlessly - clearly staying in line with Winterbottom's usual faux-documentary style. I'd be genuinely curious to know how much he filmed before he stepped away.

Also, his reason for stepping away was SUPER vague in all the coverage I saw. Most reports said it was for unspecified health reasons, but other more gossipy reports said it was because of a difference of opinion between Winterbottom and Sky about some of the content in the series.

What's interesting is that he was front and center when it came time to promote it, 18 months after it was filmed, so I guess everything worked out.

When he did promote it, however, he made no secret of his tremendous annoyance with Sky for renaming the series.

It was supposed to be called "This Sceptred Isle," a quote from the same passage in Shakespeare's Richard II as "This England." Branagh recites the passage in the opening episode.

The originally title was clearly intended sardonically/ironically. Sky seemed to change the title to either avoid that barbed element, or just because they thought people wouldn't know what it meant, it wasn't clear. But Winterbottom brought his irritation about this up in almost every interview.

I imagined it was quite obvious for any native English speaking people the title made reference to that incredible Shakespeare passage, the most beautiful and inspiring I read about any nation in the world, but I didn't dare to ask for fear of looking illiterate, hehe, so thanks for clearing up any doubts on that front.

Precisely because of the title and the topic I deduced it was used in a certain sarcastic way, and therefore the program had a particular political orientation. The show looks interesting but I'm a bit tired of the lack of objectivity the media has on one or other direction, not just in the UK, but even in backward countries like mine, but given your summary and recommendation I think I'll watch the first episode, it does intrigue me a bit.

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by edmonddantes

I imagined it was quite obvious for any native English speaking people the title made reference to that incredible Shakespeare passage, the most beautiful and inspiring I read about any nation in the world, but I didn't dare to ask for fear of looking illiterate, hehe, so thanks for clearing up any doubts on that front.

Sadly, I think you're being overly generous to English-speaking viewers in both the UK and US. I think 99% of them would have had no clue what the original title meant. I don't even mean where the title came from, I mean what the actual phrase meant. At least the final title is something simple, which viewers can understand, but I doubt many of them still knew the source of it before watching the show.

Originally Posted by edmonddantes

Precisely because of the title and the topic I deduced it was used in a certain sarcastic way, and therefore the program had a particular political orientation. The show looks interesting but I'm a bit tired of the lack of objectivity the media has on one or other direction, not just in the UK, but even in backward countries like mine, but given your summary and recommendation I think I'll watch the first episode, it does intrigue me a bit.

Winterbottom is famous for being super left. The more gossipy coverage I read about him leaving the show said that Sky was uncomfortable with his intended political direction for the series as it went into production, and took some control away from him. I don't know how true that is, but the final product feels fairly tame on a political level, when you look at his other work.

The politics don't really interest me as much as the craft and the emotion.

On a craft level, I think the series is exceptional, and I was greatly moved by many portions of it, when it's simply focusing on desperate, overwhelmed medical workers and caregivers trying to do their best in an absolutely impossible situation.

[CelestialAgent]

The new title is if anything more confusing, as it’s too close to This is England (dealing with a completely different decade) which also ran for several series.