CostanzaPiccolomini

Genealogy, music, food, diasporic Jewish history, father-son bonding, compelling travels in the most beautiful cities of Europe: this delightful documentary film traces the search for the grave of a family's oldest known ancestor, the elusive "Fioretta." The search takes us through locales both elegant and humble in Vienna, Prague, Venice and elsewhere, into crumbling, sprawling, aging cemeteries, family homes, and historical archives, all framed by a poignant father-son connection with a few tangential sidetrips into food, tailoring, and music. The protagonists are the grandson and great-grandson of renowned musician Arnold Schoenberg. So, this family is perhaps a bit more notable historically than many, but Randy Schoenberg's relentless devotion to documenting his family history is an inspiration to us all, especially to those of us who toy around with family-history. Bravo, well done.

Delightful beginning episode: a carriage overturns and falls off the road, setting up the story ...who but Andrew Davies would have this accident interrupt the heroine's rabbit hunting? No Elmer Fudd, she! Readers of Austen and fans of other film adaptations will know that "falling" is a motif which happens typically well into a story. What does it mean? Something to ponder. Thus Charlotte is spirited off to a seaside resort for some adventure. Though Charlotte is at first mistaken for a "new maid" by Sidney, her future love-interest, all goes well...not! Lots of plot twists and dashed expectations, not your purist Austen but irresistible nevertheless. Recommend purchasing PBS passport so you can binge all 8 episodes, because you will not appreciate being on pins and needles from week to week! (ps--posted a version of this review at first by mistake on the Episode 7 page; #7 is my favorite for the lovely, intense rowing scene with Sidney & Charlotte notwithstanding the intrusion of villainous Mrs Campion who serves as a rock in the road to true Austenesque love)

Hello??? What on earth were the script-writers thinking? This last episode is full of cliff-hangers and enormous disappointments. Yet it's a rich episode with so much dramatic twisting of plot, tension, alarm, uncertainty, another fabulous dancing scene, yet more brilliant music by Rachel Barrett, a sweet balcony scene, and a lovely resolution of the Babbington-Esther relationship (at least there is one wedding in the series **sniff**). The driving trope of the story of course is the union of souls between hero/heroine-Charlotte/Sidney and following the revealing path that brings them together. Though Andrew Davies, the script writer, packed this fragmented Austen-derived story with so many new and racy plot elements, a range of new characters, sexy bits, and the like, he keeps the relationship-driven plot central...in Austen, as the morally deficient characters are exposed eventually for what they are, they dissolve and disappear, while the heroes and heroines emerge and come together in deep attachment. But in Episode 8, Sidney proves to remain the conundrum he was pronounced to be by Charlotte in an earlier episode. He's a bit "improved" and more worthy of Charlotte (or is he?), but the ending leaves the couple tragically torn apart, despite zillions of hints about how they may be brought back together. It is absolutely heartbreaking, infuriating! It screams out for a SEASON 2! There are way too many loose threads, too many unresolved plot lines. Austen would not do this to us! Intensely frustrating, simply unacceptable, so please PBS, relieve our suffering and consent to do something about a Season 2!