England, My England

This is a brilliantly conceived and executed film about one of England's greatest composers and a watershed period in English history. The cinematography and editing are superb, and, for the most part, the acting is first-rate. The historical accuracy of the film is almost uncanny (down to the floor-pounding conducting with a massive "baton"). The movie has a "you-were-there" quality, and you can almost believe that you are actually watching the historical characters themselves. (I especially liked Queen Mary and her boorish King William.) The only "complaint" that I have about the film is that I had a nagging feeling of deja-vu that I was watching "Barry Lyndon" again (induced in part, no doubt, by the many candle-lit scenes, Murray Melvin's role as Shaftsbury, and Purcell's music for Queen Mary's funeral that figured so prominently in "A Clockwork Orange.") If you like historical films and/or grand costume drama, by all means try to see this film. (P.S.: I saw the film on Bravo; I'm sure that it loses a lot on the small screen, but I still rate it 9/10.)