England, My England

a brilliant movie,and a great idea to use the same cast in going to and fro between 17th and 20th century England.Only the Brits can make movies like this one.The music of Purcell was superb. Thank goodness that I taped it and can view it again at leisure. (PS I recognised the actress who played Purcell's wife as the one who plays the dumb Australian waitress in the series 'Pilgrims Rest'

The first time I saw the movie, after a brilliant opening, I felt somewhat disappointed to see that it was a play within a movie. The more I saw it, however, the more I appreciated the original treatment of this biography. It is, first and foremost, a beautiful movie, both for its photography, historical recreation and the great music. The contrast between the modern and historical periods made possible by the "play within a movie" treatment is actually very interesting. The character played by Simon Callow performs research on the life and times of Purcell, while commenting on our own times. John Elliot Gardiner conducts the baroque orchestra and singers with energy, and the result is first class. I saw and recorded this movie on videotape in the 1990's, and the tape is wearing thin. I am delighted this jewel has finally been released on DVD in 2007.

It is a wonderful film and Henry Purcell, one of the best English composers around,is a most fascinating composer to write about.

I would really like to buy a DVD or tape of this film but is finding it an impossible task.

I'm wondering where can one get a hold of it? This is merely a question about this film.

Can anyone tell me how I can get a DVD or tape of this movie?

It seems it is unavailable out there for the most part. Anyone who can help me in locating this film, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

An odd thesis, indeed, to put upon a movie about Henry Purcell.

But hear me out, fair Ladies and honourable Sires. This is the opportunity to hear about the greatest artist before the face of Albion to put justice as well as artistic congeniality before the memories of the greatest spirits to fire up our imagination. Oh yes, a spirit and talent to match his subjects. There hasn't been a master of 'portraits' since Hohlbein or Hilliard, who caught the essence of a spirit as close, detailed and true to its core as Tony Palmer. So, what better master to call upon the task of giving the greatest English composer a face to last beyond the brittle pages of an encyclopedia?

I dare the claim that Purcell was and is the eternal master of the achingly, painfully and gloriously beautiful - the indigo and forest green shades of melancholy music to tease the gentlest tears from stone.

Yes, Tony Palmer's piece is a masterful fresco of the Restoration, but still it's but a frame to what Purcell was all about. Palmer NEVER sells his subjects short for hidden agendas.

To give this claim substance, the best of the best for this task provided the music: John Eliot Gardiner & The English Baroque Soloists.

You can't possibly aim higher than this, and this movie achieved even beyond my biased expectations. The cream of the English acting craft: Simon Callow and Robert Stephens to give music to the words of masters John Osborne and Charles Wood.

Bugger me, but is there any claim out there which can come up with a more suitable setup?

Gather, people, Anglophiles and friends of the core to humanity.

Settle into your favourite chair and surrender to the sound-kept peak of aching beauty.

Schogger13

Like many others, I guess, I made a point of taping (such a 20th century expression) this programme from the air when it had its TV premiere in Australia in 1995.

I can't count the number of times I've re-watched it. Each time I do, some different aspect of the treatment or the story come to the fore. I agree that, at first, the 'play within a play' approach can be a little off-putting. So can the direct commentary on UK political life.

Sometimes it becomes a little tiring that UK playwrights and filmmakers of the late 1980s and 1990s had such a thing about Margaret Thatcher and her politics. In 'Billy Elliot' it was the coal mine closures, in 'England, My England' it was the poll tax protests. Maybe I have the luxury of not being British (well, not quite, just an Anglo Australian with a British cultural upbringing, hence the love of Purcell), but it did not resonate particularly closely with me. But, then again, I understood the message.

The treatment of Restoration England and the musical life of Purcell is amazingly well handled. You could almost believe that Peyps and Dryden were addressing us from the screen. Colwell's Charles II is utterly convincing. Charles is at once a sympathetic and pathetic character.... sincerely concerned for his kingdom and people, yet given over to his own pleasures and concerns.

As for Harry, what can I say? As presented as a man on screen, and in the music we hear, he is the unsurpassed master of the English baroque. The selected orchestral and choral works, though tending to the popular, fit the scenes perfectly and add to the sense of wonder at his talent.

For those who've not enjoyed this movie, and who are fans of Purcell or baroque music generally, all I can say is, see it! You'll be rewarded.