Reviews

This was apparently filmed as a B-Movie which gives the impression it would be bad, but I was pleasantly surprised. I love a black and white film, no CGI or special effects, just a solid story to keep bums on seats in the cinema, and this doesn't disappoint. The acting is believable throughout, there are no wooden performances that you would expect with a B-movie. The lead, Leslie Brooks, is stunning in this movie and her body language and facial expressions throughout truly give you the impression that she has a heart of ice. The only thing that let the movie down I think is that there could have been so much more to the story, and the reveal, but it winds up and ends when you feel it could twist a bit more.

I enjoyed this movie. I started watching with no expectations but found myself laughing out loud to some of the gags and twists towards the end. A truly enjoyable romp that got me away from modern day hassles for 90 minutes. It's refreshing to see a simpler lifestyle but still on a grand scale. I know this was based on an operetta but the singing parts were difficult to follow with the sound quality I watched and the absence of subtitles. The film could have gotten by without the musical element. I hate to leave spoilers in any review but I will give a slight hint...the character that you think has the most pointless role in the film actually has the strongest contribution and ties the storyline together perfectly with just one piece of dialogue.

Forget everything you ever believed required to follow a TV series. This series throws all of your previous TV habits away and takes you on a ride. This series is dysfunctional watching. BUT....in a good way. Starting slowly, you are soon thrown into viewing that jumps between the main plot (which in the grand scheme of things seems minimal) and sub plots of each and every character which somehow seem to answer bit by bit something that you were previously curious about or thought 'I don't get that'. The jumping between times and places may sound annoying but they happen so quickly at just the right times that this is almost like being on a rollercoaster ride. And there, on the screen, comes a scene that provides you with a question that you want answering that you're glad of the backstory interruption. Did I say this series was dysfunctional? Well, imagine a series with an entire episode dedicated to characters that have played no part in the story thus far and none of the main characters? As if you are warching a completely different program but by the end has further woven the story tapestry tighter. This series wasn't easy to watch. But the writing is so superb that at it's conclusion I could remember all of the tiny minor points that made it complete across the nine episodes, and three days after completing it my mind is still going back to Bly and saying 'Wow!'