Tuesday 5 April 2011

Costumedramarama! - The Night Watch



Hello all.

It has been a very busy few days but full of fun and friends.

Last night I had the pleasure of attending a screening at the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, my friends had a ticket to The Night Watch, an adaptation of Sarah Waters novel about tangled love lives during the Blitz, and I jumped at the chance.  Thanks gals!

The story centres around Kay, played by the wonderful Anna Maxwell-Martin, who cuts a lonely figure striding the streets in her masculine clothes.  It begins in 1947 and works its way back to 1941 showing Kay's various lovers, her friends and their family as they struggle through the war, with their sexuality and with the pains of falling in and out of love.

The costume is wonderful, I found myself getting terribly overexcited about various suits and hats.  It is always good to see a period drama about the working classes as most centre around upper class society with extravagant wardrobe choices, I definitely found it refreshing to see a more everyday style.

The series should be coming to the BBC soon and is most certainly worth a watch.

13 comments:

  1. I hope it does make it to the bbc, the only problem with living in the sticks is that trips to London are very few and far between. I will defiantly look out for it!

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  2. Ooh, looks good! I shall have to check it out, somehow.
    -Andi x

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  3. Oh fab. I can't wait to see this. The book was fantastic and I love Anna Maxwell-Martin x

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  5. Super! I read the book recently, which was excellent, and I thought how fabulous it would be on screen...of course I wanted to be in it though :D Hope it becomes widely available asap! x

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  6. That does sound interesting...I'll watch for it on BBCA! I often forget about the complexities of your class system over there ~ ! I suppose we have it here as well but it is slightly different...one of the characters in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil says, "True, I may be 'nouveau riche', then again it's the riche that counts, isn't it."

    And there ^^^ is another good film about class difference and gay people. Takes place in Savannah, GA.
    * : )

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  7. I love the book! So excited for it to be on tv! And you're right about working class clothing too

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  8. Oh I was meant to go to the screening and talk, super sad I missed it! Love the book and I cannot wait to see the series!

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  9. Poor Saphy (poor everybody who has to wait), she only has to wait for it to be on the BBC - we have to wait years for it to appear in Sydney, Australia. :-( Poor us! But, I notice there is a book! I shall hot-foot it to my nearest bookshop to see if I can get a copy. Thanks for telling us about your trip to the theatre - much appreciated.

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  10. I love The Night Watch so much that I have it in traditional book form and as an audiobook. I can't wait to see it on the tv, especially with Anna Maxwell-Martin, she's a great actor.

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  11. Oooh, how exciting!

    I absolutely love this book, can't wait for it to hit the BBC!

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  12. This sounds fantastic- I also find working class and less stereotypically 'glam' vintage costume drama more interesting. Can't wait for it to hit the Beeb!

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