He Knew He Was Right (DVD)

Purchased this dvd because I like to hunt down any film with Bill Nighy in any role. Felt this film didn't develop the issue very well and maybe left a little undone unless that is what they were after. Sad to watch people just 'sitting in the drawing room' while a member of their family dives deeper and deeper into mental illness. But then maybe the 'time period' that left people unaware and uninformed. Whatever it was left me with a sad or low feeling, no morale to the story maybe I was hoping for, bought the film for 'entertainment'...and it 'didn't'.

Once again BBC & screen writer Andrew Davies get it right with a classic adaptation, this time from Anthony Trollope's Victorian novel, "He Knew He Was Right." An innocent wife, a jealous husband, a notorious ladies man, an indecisive vicar, a pair of "French" sisters, a lowly born but lovely girl, an elderly aunt, a consummate gentleman, a poor journalist, a private detective, an American lady, and a woman in love. These are the main characters that make up one of Anthony Trollope's greatest novels, aptly named "He Knew He Was Right."When Louis Trevelyan (Oliver Dimsdale) meets Emily Rowley (Laura Fraser), daughter of Sir Marmaduke Rowley (the island's governor), on a trip to the Mandarin Islands, he falls madly in love: Emily and her parents consent to a marriage (she has some say: after all, she has been raised in the free ways of the tropics). They marry, honeymoon, and even have a child in a first few years of complete and utter bliss in London, with Emily's sister Nora in accompaniment. All is fine until insecure Louis begins to suspect that Emily is having an affair with old family friend and her godfather, Colonel Osborne (Bill Nighy), a notorious ladies man who has a penchant for married women. Emily has received him alone in her London home (she is unaware of the dangers of London society, being both beautiful and independent), and gossip begins to circulate that something is going on there. When Louis confronts Emily she denies that anything is going on or has ever happened. He forbids her to ever see Osborne again and she refuses: she professes her complete innocence and her complete love of Louis, but does not see why she should promise not to see Osborne and in so doing admit wrong. Louis is angry and doesn't believe her: he thinks she's lying, covering up, shameful and deceitful...he would forgive her, but only if she admitted she had done him wrong. Emily refuses.Other characters are introduced, as Emily and Nora are sent by Louis to live with his best friend Hugh's mother Mrs. Stanbury and his sister Priscilla. Mrs. Stanbury is widow of the late vicar, with daughters Priscilla and Martha (who is later sent to live with her elderly rich Aunt Stanbury), and son Hugh. Others include: Camilla and Arabella French, who both wish to marry the local minister, Reverend Gibson; Hugh Stanmore, a poor journalist and Louis' best friend; Charles Glascock, a soon-to-be titled gentleman who has fallen for a certain lady; Brooke Burgess, Aunt Stanbury's heir who falls for a woman himself; Caroline and Olivia Spalding, adventuresome sisters from America; and last but not least, a sleazy private detective named Bozzle. All these and more create a volatile setting for a few different love triangles of ultimate rejection, supposed "betrayal," and true love.Content: There is much spoken of in the way of a supposed affair between a married woman and an unmarried man: there is never anything shown. There is no objectionable language that I can recall. There is some vacillating of people between who they will marry, and a not-quite flattering portrayal of a local minister. A little boy is kidnapped, a young lady defies her parents to marry, a woman threatens violence to others when she doesn't get her way (she will stab them all; a slight tussle occurs at one point), engagement made and broken are tossed left and right. A man is driven to madness and despair by his own imagination.Louis spends the entire time, obsessed with the idea that Emily has committed adultery with Colonel Osborne: he lets it take over his thoughts, his actions, his health and his life in general. But when all is said and done and the dust finally settles on this play of life, will Louis finally believe his lovely wife Emily is as innocent as she claims? You may wonder what ultimately happens...after all, HE knew HE was right...

The film held my attention; as it has four stories of courtship or marriage; of love or failure. Though all live in the same quaint, beautiful, village, and know one another, and sometimes interact; the stories are unrelated. The main story is of a husband, who becomes bitterly jealous and expresses his anger at his wife upon appearances and misunderstanding. An older man daily visits the husband's young, wife during the day when the husband is not at home, and the town gossips tell the husband they suspect an affair. In truth; the older man is a friend of the wife's parents, who live overseas. The older man is frequently writing letters to the young, woman's parents; and as the daughter never writes her parents; this older man; the family friend, always has the latest news from the woman's parents. The husband's bitter anger and accusation at his innocent wife does great harm. The older man persists in his visits even after being told of the husband's clear, opposition. Everybody gets angry, rather than trying to sort things out. Misunderstanding and suspicion increase. Things escalate more and more throughout the film. All the while; the news of the wife's parents is of a sort of cliffhanger news that makes the wife want to know what is happening next with her parents. We never know if the older man has designs on the beautiful, young, wife, but at the least, he intentionally uses correspondence with the parents as a means of enticing the young woman to have tea with him on a daily basis, when she otherwise would have no interest. The older man is thoughtless and indifferent to the trouble he causes; even as it escalates. There is a very funny side story going on of a young town minister, who is pursued for marriage by two sisters, who are scheming, bitter, rivals of one another, and these scenes are the highlight of the film. It is worth watching the film for this side-story alone; but I enjoyed the whole film. The other two love stories have multiple suitors competing for a woman's hand in marriage. It all moves at a good pace within beautiful settings. All the characters are likeable at times; there is no bad guy in the film; but all the characters have their faults or mishandle a situation. The moral of the story is: That many times in a dispute; both people can be right, and it is which way you go from there. How often do people hastily express anger upon appearances without first calming down, taking the time, often many hours, which is always required, to think through, understand, and know the full story? The Bible, Ecclesiastes 7:9, "Do not be eager (hasty) in your heart to be angry; for anger resides in the bosom of fools." This story is a good lesson for us all. There are four, hour-long, episodes, or four hours total. I watched it over two nights. Episode-one causes you to have to watch episode-two to see what happens, but that is not the case at the end of episode-two, which allows for a break.

I truly enjoyed watching this masterpiece! I especially like how the characters would often look directly at the camera and act as if they were speaking personally to me. I also thought that the story line was remarkable. I didn't expect it to end the way that it did, although I guess it really made you see how this one man's obsession with being right, caused him to grieve over something that had only occurred in his mind. I thought the acting was superb! Every cast member had a role to play and played it to the end! I also liked the integrity displayed by Nora. Although she wasn't sure if the man that she loved would return her feelings, she held on to her integrity and turned down a marriage proposal from a man who was truly handsome and very wealthy. I also loved the feisty Aunt who always spoke her mind! The funniest part was the two sisters who fought relentlessly over the preacher! He didn't really want to marry either one, but he finally chose the more quieter of the two. I really enjoyed this and would recommend it for all those who want to see a true work of genius!!

a troubling story with a bad ending

The DVD was delivered super-speedily.It has been forwarded to someone else for a present so can't comment on the quality of this particular DVD but I already have a copy and it is one of my favourite adaptations from a book to the screen. Wonderful acting,costumes and scenery.

Very good. Well acted and directed, with lovely character parts for wonderful actors like Anna Massey. Bill Nighy is brilliant as the sleazy Colonel Osborne! Andrew Davies' screen play is up to his usual excellence. I'm reading the book now and this dramatisation seems pretty close to the book. The DVD was in good condition and quickly despatched.

Just started to watch this, very compelling viewing. The first two chapters are excellent and enjoyable, good acting from various well-known actors, typical of Antony Trollope.

Here's a superior "boots & bonnets" series from the BBC. It tells the story of the destruction of a marriage in mid Victorian England and has a wonderful cast that includes Oliver Dimsdale, Laura Fraser, Anna Massey and David Tennant. It also includes a veritable "who's who" of character actors that will have you saying "where have I seen him/her before?" Considering the novel by Anthony Trollope dates from 1869, this series sets a cracking pace from the outset. An outstanding cast, [Anna Massey's performance should be used by RADA as an example of excellence], the production benefits from the beautiful writing of one of the Nation's greatest novelists. Grab a copy of this whilst you still can.

Well, it did stretch credibility a bit far (I mean, how stupid and stubborn can one person be?) but it was a very enjoyable watch. An old fashioned pot boiler. If you like this sort of Victorian melodrama then you will enjoy this.