“a new era” which looks more like a final farewell

And two! Seven years after the end (for France) of the hit British television series which depicts a British aristocratic family and their staff at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, Downton Abbey resumes service. The first adaptation to the cinema, released in September 2019, articulated around a royal visit, was not enough. Screenwriter Julian Fellows still had it under his belt. Here come Downton Abbey IIwhich promises the viewer “a new era“. For the French, the promise is twofold since part of the Crawley family travels on this occasion to the south of France, in pursuit of a mystery.

Here we are in 1928. The Dowager Countess, Lady Violet (Maggie Smith), summons her lawyer and the family. She has just inherited the luxurious Villa des Colombes, located in France near Toulon, which she in turn intends to bequeath to one of her great-granddaughters. It was a certain Marquis de Montmirail, who died recently, who bequeathed this superb residence to him, where he and his family have always spent their summers. What is behind this legacy? This man and Violet lived together”an enchanted parenthesis“, on the spot, sixty years ago, and this, shortly before the birth of Lord Grantham… Would Lady Violet have sinned?

At the same time, a Hollywood filmmaker, Mr. Barber, proposes to shoot his next silent film at Downton Abbey. An unthinkable idea for Lord Grantham. But the money that the production promises to pay could help renovate the very poor roof of his neo-Gothic castle, as his daughter Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) points out, now “sole master on board“. The approval is finally given to the shooting, and while the staff rejoices in meeting stars of the big screen “in truth“, the majority of the family, escorted in particular by the former butler Carson, takes to their heels. Direction the Côte d’Azur, where the new Marquis de Montmirail, son of the deceased, has kindly invited them.

Of course, we find with pleasure all the endearing actors of this human comedy, who have aged a little, at the same rate as us. But our expectations, which fantasized our tribe”so british” rubbing against The Artist and to Gatsby, will not be filled. The plot is very thin and if the permanent division which puts the two stories in parallel (the shooting at Downton and the getaway in the South), resembles the method which very often gives nerve to the series, the narrative arc does not would hold no more than two television episodes. What’s the point, then, of bringing it to the big screen?

Thankfully, the lavish sets and costumes are still there, as are the delicious bits of humor, and the actors are good, if underemployed. We always enjoy the eagle gaze of Carson (Jim Carter), the benevolent grumpiness of the cook Mrs Patmore (Lesley Nicol) and the lunar side of Mr Molesley (Kevin Doyle), who this time will discover hidden talents. .

The arrival of the new ones even brings a little pep. Nathalie Baye, an annoyed widow of the Marquis de Montmirail, who does not intend to be robbed and threatens to take the case to court. The son of this one, played by Jonathan Zacaï seen in The Office of Legends, which welcomes the family with all respect. The main actor of the silent film, the solar Guy Dexter (Dominic West) who flirts with the butler Thomas Barrow (Rob-James Collier).

However, all of this is sorely lacking in surprises and excitement. Where did the bite and the tension go? The difficulties of the small staff and the bad faith of the powerful? Even the intractable Violet has a soft touch here. Everyone is affable and swimming in happiness, and the story dozes off with soft good-thinking, without even depriving itself of a few dispensable tear passages.

Perhaps to compensate, the scenario multiplies the resolutions and happy endings of many small underlying intrigues (especially romantic ones), long put on hold. So that this film looks like a final point this time. Unless the servants become successful actors with the advent of talkies which serves as a backdrop to the film, and all the conventions of the nobility are turned upside down by the crisis of 29 looming on the horizon ( and of which we find no trace here), we do not see how a sequel would be possible. The hour of farewell has come. As Neil Young sang, “it is better to burn frankly than to die out slowly“.

Gender : drama, history
Director :Simon Curtis
Script : Julian Fellowes
Country : United Kingdom, United States
Duration : 2h06
Distributer : Focus Features LLC
Exit : April 27, 2022

With : Hugh Bonneville, Maggie Smith, Michelle Dockery, Elizabeth McGovern, Laura Carmichael, Jonathan Zaccaï, Nathalie Baye, Rob James-Collier…

Synopsis : 1928. Violet, the dowager of the Granthams, summons the family: she has just inherited a villa in the south of France, a generous legacy from a certain Marquis de Montmirail. At the same time, a director for the cinema wishes to shoot his new silent film, The Gambler, at Downton Abbey. The offer is tempting in the face of the heavy renovation work that is to come for the estate. While the production is preparing to take over the property, the family plans to take the opportunity to discover the villa on the Côte d’Azur…