'The Line of Beauty'

am I supposed to be familiar w/ what this is based on?

it's happening RIGHT NOW. people playing hits of the '80s, and acting.

we just had 'i don't need this pressure on'.

This is the adap of the prize-winning novel, yea?

looks rubbish

I assume so, yeah. Great book, film looks forgettable.

uh-oh, there's a photographer from the face!

is it john simm or what?

perhaps not. it's more or less standard beeb adaptation bidness could be set anytime really, but this one has the oddd EIGHTIES reference.

ok yeah no it's DEFINITELY shit.

This is such potential Kate porn. In a good way.

it so is.

references 'going to an [art] opening in stoke newington'.

in 1983-4?

i'm not an expert but O RLY?

tories = EVIL people

this is an absolutely superb book which can't be adapted in 3 hours, it makes it ALL PLOT and, really, the plot is one of the least interesting aspects of it. i was watching it trying to figure out how anyone who hadn't read it could make any sense of this adaptation.

also, none of the characters in it would listen to The Passions.

The book is really great (certainly the best English novel in years), but its tone is so foreign to contemporary movies (self-aware pretentiousness) that it would take the Lubitsch touch to film.

i dunno if it's the best english novel for years but it's the best booker winner for years anyway.

Loved the book, but this TV version is a load of rubbish. Very poor acting, very poor adaptation skeelz, horrible font.

Presumably she did the cutting before the Stranglers track came on.

Darcey Bussell on Desert Island Discs this week picked "Golden Brown" because "it's such a feelgood sunny song and makes me happy." Er, shall we break the news to her gently?...

I was watching the footie so missed this. I liked the book a lot but agree that it doesn't seem filmable. Mind you, they didn't do too badly with The Rotters' Club so obviously I'll need to catch up with this.

what are you on, alfred!?

self-aware pretentiousness is foreign to contemporary movies?!?!?!

lubitsch was a fine comedy director but he didn't have the political cojones for this.

You can watch it on BBC2's new broadband website, etc.

I switched back to the football just in time for the goals.

I saw bits of this.

Lots of "the bad guys breathe smoke on people and cuss at black men that stand close to white girls" type characterisations.

That young lad might listen to the Passions, after hearing "german film star" on the radio.

Oh and Kaet to thread, natch.. (Unless she was w*****g the f******)

Terrific book. Forgot all about the TV version. Strange to pitch it against the European Cup Final. Are football fans not into the 80's gay scene?

They chant to a different Pet Shop Boys record, at least if they're Gooners.

"Being Boring" ?

Gooners chant You're Shit to the tune of Go West. But possibly not at the moment.

I liked it. It was a good excuse not to watch the second half of the footy (I already had a good excuse not to watch the first half, so it all worked out). I agree that much of the book's essence doesn't carry across, but something of it did.

I don't know the Passions: they must be the band that I did not recognize that sounded quite good.

'Blue Monday' on the soundtrack was a mistake. Unnecessary, intrusive and just too leaden and overfamiliar an effect.

I should not get too caught up in discussing the songs, though. My favourite thing in it was Lord Kessler saying that Henry James's secret might be winkled out.

I am "doing" episode 3 of this Toby Titwank and Jasper Buckaroo extravaganza. Tonight's the night for episode 2.

My new desktop wallpaper:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/lineofbeauty/photogallery_gerald_fedden2.shtml

I will miss this again, as it cannot hope to compete against How William Shatner Changed The World on Five.

You can watch it online! At work!

I just watched this last night. I like Tim McInninninnery but nothing actually HAPPENED, did it? And I don't get the point of Nick at all. Though it was quite funny how he is all enraptured by the beauty of posh house in London when it is clearly revolting.

I saw a bit of the repeated episode 1 on Sunday.

In my view they should have dispensed with music altogether.

Wow, looks like nobody made it to episode 2 then!
I gave up after 20 minutes or so - the only interest being that it reminded me of scenes from the (excellent) novel that I'd forgotten.

i didn't watch it because i plan to read the book again and i don't want to picture those too-blandly-handsome actors as the characters.

I saw it for the first time on Wednesday, I liked it, albiet for very base reasons i.e. I was tired and there were lots of pretty men snogging. I know, I know it's a total female chauvanist pig comment, I hate myself too.

x-post with Jed.

I liked it and part of that may be because of how close to the bone it is for a lot of people I no longer keep in touch with.

Will order the book off Amazon soon.

Well, I finally saw it. Now I suppose I understand all the "Kate to thread" comments. It's just an 80s update of Brideshead Revisited, isn't it?

Seemed rather shallow and rather too many of the characters were cartoon sketches, but I suppose that has more to do with the brevity of the adaptation. A bit heavy handed on the old "ooh, posh people are BAD, they are racist, homophobic and have affairs" like that doesn't happen in the lower classes. But it's kind of a classic genre, isn't it, the "morality play about the ill advised nature of the middle class mixing with their social 'betters' and finding them not better at all" - goes back to the 19th Century. There was something very 19th Century about it, despite the 80s soundtrack.

I mean, why *was* he so in love with Leo? That was never expanded upon, seemed more like lust to me. And why were the Feddens so keen to adopt him in the first place? Replacement for their son? As a minder for their mad daughter? (a lot of hysterical "ooh, she's MAD because she comes from such a terrible background" handwriting, even though in the latter half of the film, she's clearly on Lithium, which indicates the rather more genetic disorder of Manic Depression.)

The Thatcher bit was hilarious, though. Not entirely necessary and a bit like Tory fan fiction, but very very funny.