Bright Young Things

Description

"Some time in the past when things were much as they are now, only more so..." A satirical comedy as well as a love story, Bright Youngs Things marks the the directoral debut of actor Stephen Fry. "Bright Young Things," says Fry, "is a period film shot with modern pace and cinematography. It deals with fame, sexual scandal, greed, night-clubbing, and the frantic glamour of youth."

While the central plot of Bright Young Things is a romance, it is also a highly topical social comedy that shows a conservative older generation failing to understand the club culture, music, dance, and frenetic pace of its children, modern society at its most decadent and most colorful is fully on display as is the popular media fueled by gossip columnists and paparazzi who dominate a tabloid press propelled by rumor and scandal.

Customer Reviews:

Four and a half stars, because of its wonderful ending!.......2007-08-31

"Bright Young Things" is brilliantly written and directed by Stephen Fry, the enormous talent who played "Jeeves" opposite Hugh Laurie in 23 episodes of the wonderful British comedy, "Jeeves and Wooster" (1990-1993), which should be a collector's item.

This film has an ensemble cast of great British actors, and depicts British decadence in all of its glory prior to World War II. Few should ever doubt Fry's talents, and they are on full display in this film.

Stephen Campbell Moore as "Adam Fenwick-Symes," and Emily Mortimer as "Nina Blount" are terrific, and their love transcends the inaneness, perfidies and puffery of Britain's upper class.

Too, too shaming.......2006-12-29

Evelyn Waugh's most characteristic novel VILE BODIES would seem almost impossibly difficult to adapt for film; Stephen Fry tries here, and achieves much, but doesn't quite pull it off. Some of the characters from Waugh's novel are captured perfectly (particularly the desperate gossip columnist the Earl Balcairn, played here with real pathos and energy by the wonderful James McAvoy, and the gloomy wife of a prime minister, played all too briefly by Imelda Staunton), but others fall very wide of Waugh's mark. Many of the actors seems to be trying too hard, which is absolutely not in the spirit of the original novel. Fry makes the wild 30s parties seem far too much like their analogues from his contemporary experience, and he dooms the screenplay by providing it with a false romantic ending that goes grossly against the grain of Waugh's novel.

not bad - but pales in comparison with the book.......2006-05-04

It is difficult to fairly assess a film when you've recently read and immensely enjoyed the book it was based on. Although - ideally - Bright Young Things should be evaluated for its own faults and merits and not be measured against Vile Bodies, I - admittedly - cannot help but compare it to Evelyn Waugh's biting comic satire.

For the most part, Bright Young Things is faithful to the plot of Vile Bodies. It follows the lives of several young London socialites as they hop from one glamorous party to the next, always with an air of wit and boredom, and it focuses on the might-be romance between Adam, a poor young writer, and his lovely fiance, Nina. Although light and comic on its surface, Bright Young Things also preserves the dark undercurrent that runs through the novel.

And yet, this film - in my opinion - misses the mark. To begin with, I believe that it spends too much time trying to develop its plot and not enough time lingering over the characters' verbal musings. Vile Bodies truly excels in its dialogue, not in the development of its story. And, because the makers of Bright Young Things apparently failed to realize this, the film is resultantly much less funny.

I also feel that Bright Young Things takes itself too seriously. The romance between Adam and Nina comes across as much more sincere in the film than it does in the book. Also, the film's ending is very different from the book's; it tidies things up neatly and inserts a sort of hopeful, moral. To me, this came across as forced and incongruent with the story.

I think Vile Bodies has the potential to be made into a great film. After all, with the abundance of dialogue, it reads more like a play than a novel anyway. Unfortunately, this film does not do the story justice. If you have read the book, I think you'll be disappointed. If you haven't read it - you might find this film - with its subtle, dry wit - funnier than your average comedy ... but, then again ... why not just read the book? It's better.

Bright young things... with an edge.......2006-02-19

This movie based on Evelyn Waugh's Vile Bodies (which I admit I have not read) was a finely crafted peek into frivolous high society. The movie starts with a crazy, costumed, drug-infused party and an unfortunate young man (Adam Symes) who loses all his money. He constantly breaks off and reinstates his engagement with Nina depending on how much money he has. The first half of the money is full of the characters' hilarious confusion and lack of interest in anything and absolutely everything. Parties galore and the insult of the day is to be "boring".

Yet things take a sour turn as their pettiness starts to affect other peoples' lives. Then tragedy encroaches, and one sees that life can't be one big party (even if they really, really want it to be). The tragic elements make the characters real and makes the movie more than just a ficticious gossip column. Stephen Campbell Moore does a great job as the "innocent" friend caught up in a whirlwind of craziness. Though he acts the fine line well, since he is just as involved and guilty as everyone else. But you still have to love him! Fenella Woolgar is a wonderful comic relief, but she thankully brings us back to life when she talks of her "dream" of endlessly, pointlessly driving in circles. The upbeat big band music is uplifting yet also melancholy at times and provides great background to the action onscreen.

Great movie, and now I am going to go read the book!

Entertaining stylish movie.......2006-01-24

I very much like how Stephen Fry changed the title of Evelyn Waugh's Vile Bodies to Bright Young Things and in essence said that they were different works entirely (something that he claims is a tradition in adaptations dating from the early days of film and theater) because where the book is sharp and nasty in places, Fry gives a nostalgic view of 1930s Britain from the perspective of the children of nobility, born just a little too late to miss WWI, filling their lives with parties, gossip and inventions.

Fry loves to use the old fashioned camera techniques (the wipe, the shrinking looney tunes circle) which adds to the general atmosphere of frivolity. Through a large cast of characters, he moves briskly through Waugh's novel with all the costumes, gambling, drug taking, suicides, car racing and society page gossip. Peter O'Toole as the doddering noble who may or may not be senile shines in the movie but the entire cast is excellent, especially Jim Broadbent as the Drunk Major.

As with the book, the frivolity turns tragic, but so its subtle enough that everything feels natural. And the comedy does remain throughout. The one unfortunate choice (at least for readers of the book) that Fry makes is to extend the plot for 15 minutes after Waugh's apocalyptic ending (he wrote it in 1932 and ends it with WWII - although he was only using that to end his book, not as a prediction) into a post-WWII happy ending. I don't know if I would have cared had I not read the book, but it does feel too jarring for anyone that enjoys the cynical original.

Average customer rating:

Four and a half stars, because of its wonderful ending!
Too, too shaming
not bad - but pales in comparison with the book
Bright young things... with an edge
Entertaining stylish movie

Bright Young Things [Region 2]

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B0001FYQ18