For those who do not follow the adventures of the successful Saxon television series downton abbeycreated and written by Julian Fellowes, it should be noted that it all took place in a magnificent country mansion in England, owned by the Earl of Grantham, at the beginning of the 20th century.

In reality, it’s a bad series, wonderfully set and acted, with all the clichés of the genre, but at an exceptional level of quality. Of course, there was no lack of formal and even affective interaction between members of the British aristocratic nobility and some of their countless service members.

Thus, infidelities, passions, deceptions, benevolent souls or creatures of demonic nature, emerge, over and over from the hat of the sorcerer of the Fellowes, like pigeons or rabbits that we are ready admire.

After six seasons, a first film appeared, with the same title and now, when everyone suggested that the franchise was over, the continuation was given to a second film called Downton Abbey: A New Era.

You need to return the house

We are at the dawn of 1930, time has passed inevitably and Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery), reveals to her father that the old mansion urgently needs to be restored with its roofs leaking like a lament from in heaven. To the dismay of the owners, a tempting offer came from the British Lion film company to shoot a quiet film in their beautiful surroundings.

The prejudices will not last long, especially those of Lord Robert Crawley (Hugh Boneville) who does not want to have “make-up women or drunken gentlemen” in front of him. The residence is raided by a crowd of workers, technicians, director Jack Barber (Hugh Dancy) and two fictional stars of the time: heartthrob Guy Dexter (Dominic West) and young Myrna Dalgleish (Laura Haddock), as beautiful as she is. is unsatisfactory.

Of course we won’t tell here all the details of the plot or the derivations of the relationship that begins to emerge between the rogue Dexter and the butler Barrow (Robert James-Collier).

The misunderstandings and stress will increase when filmmaking fails in the face of the success of the nascent sound film. Somehow some ideas of the fascinating world of cinema have already been presented by the Fellowes well Gosford ParkDirected by Robert Altman.

While this is happening, Countess Violet (Maggie Smith) receives strange news: an old French aristocrat has died and bequeathed to her a villa on the Côte d’Azur, at least. Then doubts arose about the past of that brief relationship and there they left, to internalize the details and get to know the widow of the noble Montmirail (Natalie Baye) and her son (Jonathan Zaccaï), who gave way to a similar intrigue that adds to the hypothesis of past passions.

The result is comforting and, especially about the end, it’s moving. It is evident that the great merit of history was to draw a fairly accurate picture of the social, economic and political situation of England at that time. All of the presentations were brilliant, although Smith’s magnetic presence stood out for his quality as an interpreter.

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Downton Abbey: A New Era

Qualifications: good

Drama. United Kingdom, 2022. 125 ‘, ATP. from: Simon Curtis. may: Maggie Smith and cast. Rooms: Cinemark Palermo, Cinepolis Recoleta, Atlas Patio Bullrich and Paseo Alcorta, Hoyts, Showcase.

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