The Forsyte Saga - The Complete Series | Susan Hampshire, Richard Armour

The Forsyte Saga - The Complete Series | Susan Hampshire, Richard Armour | a trail of destruction

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The Forsyte Saga -...

	The Forsyte Saga - The Complete Series Susan Hampshire, Richard Armour BBC Warner, 2003 average customer review:based on 56 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

The miniseries that started it all! In 1969, a internationally-acclaimed BBC show began airing on the fledgling public broadcasting network. The Forsyte Saga, in telling the remarkable story of a nouveau riche English family, introduced America to a new kind of TV. Millions of Americans devoted the next half year of their lives to following the frank treatment of all sins, foibles and peccadillos of the Forsytes and their circle. The passing decades can never the erase the memory of their extraordinary eveningswith the Forsytes: Kenneth More as Jo, the philosophical outsider; Eric Porter as Soames, the grasping man of property; Nyree Dawn Porter as Irene, "born to be loved and to love" and in later episodes, Susan Hampshire in an Emmy-winning performance as Fleur, Soame's 'restless' daughter. The series was so popular that Masterpiece Theatre was created to meet the new demand for great literary adaptations. With 150 characters, 2000 separate costumes and over 100 sets, this sprawling yet intimate saga continues to move, provoke and entrance viewers today.

DVD Features:
Biographies
Featurette:Archival behind-the-scenes featurette

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Very enjoyable product

I had been looking for the original version of the Forsyte Saga for many months and I was very pleasantly surprised to find it Amazon (I should have known). I had been warned that the soundtrack would be a bit patchy but I found both the video and sound of very good quality for a series dating back quite a few decades. I enjoyed the series immensely and can highly recommend it.

a trail of destruction

Many story threads are woven into this mammoth drama, one being the tale of a woman who leaves a trail of destruction in her wake. It covers three generations at the time when the West was undergoing the most substantial social and technological changes in its history.

Irene commits cold-blooded marriage to escape a difficult personal situation. She loathes the man she marries and comes to loathe him more and more even though he showers her with gifts and does his best by her. After three years, she commits adultery with the fiancé of a cousin, wrecking her life. When her husband finds out about it, his patience finally snaps and he forces her to have sex with him. She immediately runs to her lover, sobbing and telling him what happened. The news so unhinges him that he wanders the streets in a daze and is run over and killed.

Irene then endures several years of lower-middle-class existence, then begins seeing one of the older men in the Forsyte family she has married into. With her demur, pretty and unattainable sweetness, she so rouses him that he has a heart attack and dies. This leads to an acquaintance with her son and their eventual marriage.

Years later, when Irene's son falls in love with the daughter of her ex-husband, Irene does her hysterical, anguished dance once more, causing her husband to have a heart attack and die. As a result, her son, against his own wishes and judgment, breaks off his engagement with the daughter of the ex-husband, condemning her to an unsatisfied life.

Final score: four men dead, two women's lives ruined, and Irene alone remains standing, untouched, serene, and pretty as ever.

This is a superb, 22-hour dramatization and will be cherished by everyone who likes period drama, tight screenwriting, accurate acting and a moving story. A remake was done recently. It has none of these qualities, and its London-hip actors wearing period clothes will appeal only to those unable to relate to any other period than their own.

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Do the subtitles work in HDTV format?

I have not purchased this set yet, but would love to. However, it is
essential that the subtitles for the hearing impaired work. I have found
that many British series do not have them at all, and those that do often do not work in the US,

I would appreciate it very much if someone who has this set can test the titles for me.

Thanks,

Patty

pity ! no translation !

I am very surprised that in very elegant and technicaly perfect DVD
I don't find any translation to a non-English language. Y. Remetz

Family Rating PG13

Besides my interest in British movies from this era, I look for movies I will enjoy and I feel comfortable having on my shelf for my grandchildren to run across. Although the story was fascinating as it weaved relationships in and out of the lives of the characters, it appeared that infidelity was a way of life. I gave my series of The Forsyte Saga to a mature friend.

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