A TV fave heads to the big screen
DOWNTON ABBEY I Why the upstairsdownstairs soap will make a trip to the pictures…
Even on television it was a very cinematic world,” says director Michael Engler when asked why make a Downton Abbey movie after six seasons of telly. “It lends itself to that because of the scale and locations and the period. So there is the possibility for a largescale cinematic event, and I think that’s what Julian [Fellowes, creator and writer] has done. In the world where the top of society is defined by the Count and Countess of Grantham, we now have the King and Queen come to visit.”
Engler’s film is set in 1927, 18 months after the show concluded, and will bring back all of the familiar upstairs-downstairs players, plus Simon Jones and Geraldine James as King George V and Queen Mary, who descend upon Lord and Lady Grantham (Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern) at their titular pile of bricks.
“You can expect romance, comedy, intrigue and jealousies; it’s the same mixture [as the TV series], with a new story,” teases Engler. But can that story be enjoyed by those not acquainted with the show? “What Julian has done brilliantly is to make it feel like one whole complete story,” he nods. “The more you know about the series and the characters, the richer it’ll be – and there are funny little callbacks – but, unlike the series, where week
by-week characters come to the foreground or shift to the background, there is one overarching story.”
This accessibility extends to the tone. Those familiar with history will know the story is set at a time when aristocracies were toppling across Europe, but Downton Abbey will be a world away from, say, Mike Leigh’s politically engaged period dramas. Nor will it offer a parallel take on today’s world.
“No,” states Engler. “This is wish fulfilment: beauty and elegance; an orderly world.”
He smiles. “In a funny way, the fact of how different it is might be the most relevant point.”
ETA | 13 SEPTEMBER / DOWNTON ABBEY OPENS THIS AUTUMN.