'The Line of Beauty'

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.