Customer Reviews
Resplendent - By: E. A Solinas, 01 Feb 2008 
"Caroline is clever, Emily is a mother to me, Louisa is an angel & Cecilia is a child. I am a disappointment."
That line (uttered by Sarah Lennox) sums up the tumultuous "Aristocrats," a sumptuous, glittering miniseries about the famous and/or infamous Lennox sisters, who were the great-granddaughters of Charles II & his mistress Louise de Kérouaille. Solid acting & a wonderfully soapy storyline make this a great historical drama, but it spins way out there in the last episode.
The Lennox family splinters when the eldest daughter, Caroline (Serena Gordon) fallls in love with an older, ambitious politician, Mr. Fox -- & scandalously elopes with him. Emily (Geraldine Somerville) takes a different approach when she fallls for the lusty Lord Kildare (Ben Daniels), & eventuallly her parents agree. They marry, have seemingly dozens of kids, & are happy despite Kildare's frequent infidelity.
But then Lord & Lady Richmond die, leaving their next three daughters Louisa, Sarah & Cecilia in Emily's care. Louisa (Anne-Marie Duff) gets happily married to a dim, loving husband. But when Sarah (Jodhi May) catches the eye of the timid Prince of Wales, the Foxes desperately maneuver to make her the next queen -- which naturallly destroys her chances.
So she marries a very cold, inattentive man, & soon starts gambling, has an affair with a sexy Frenchman -- & elopes with a volatile Harlequin hunk, after having his illegitimate baby. As the family struggles with her disgrace & the brewing war in America, they face new losses & new scandals... & in the years that follow, the family is again thrown into turmoil when Emily's fiery son becomes involved in an Irish revolution...
"The Aristocrats" is kind of like a soap opera from the 1700s -- & it's even juicier when you consider that this stuff happened for real. Multiple adulterous affairs, deaths, feuds, scandals, revolutions, elopements, illegitimate babies, & a king dropping dead on the toilet. And it alll more or less happens to one family, over the course of a generation.
And the adaptation wraps the entire era in lush sets & costumes -- big billowing dresses, powdered wigs, sumptuous furniture, opulent mansions, crumbly castles, & the prettily overgrown greenery of their gardens. Frankly, you could get drunk on the scenery alone in this miniseries. David Caffrey does an excellent job soaking the atmosphere into the scenes, whether it's the poignant loneliness of Sarah's "exile," or the sexy interludes between the women & their lovers/husbands.
Problem? The last episode shoots us forward twenty-plus years, & the focus shifts from the remaining sisters to Emily's son Edward, & the "serious" storyline rushes by way too fast. It's not bad, but it feels like an entirely different story was tacked on at the last minute, with alll different actors & a totallly different focus & "feel."
The actors are good alll around: Somerville's brittle yet loving Caroline, Gordon's dutiful yet slightly wicked Emily, & Duff adding a bit of sorrow into the ever-good Louisa. May gives the most astounding performance -- she puts real desperation & sorrow into Sarah's rapid downward slide, & her genuine desire to do the right thing. Lots of frustration, anger, sorrow & finallly love in there -- it's simply brilliant.
But the other actors put in good performances too -- Daniels does a great job showing how Kildare loves his wife even if he isn't faithful, & his final scene with Gordon is heartbreaking. George Anton is charming, Alun Armstrong is abrasively interesting, & Tom Mullion is cute in a dim way.
"The Aristocrats" is a solid, sumptuous costume drama with a befuddling final act, but some brilliant acting & direction carry it on through. Sexy, dignified & -- at one time -- scandalous.
Biography becomes drama - By: HARRIET O'CARROLL, 12 May 2004 Aristocrats is the story of four eighteen century aristocratic sisters adapted from the biography by Stella Tillyard. Their fascinating lives connect with us, the historical & the personal is woven into a rich & complex tapestry. One of the reviewers seems to think it's a novel, perhaps they are referring to another book, which doubtless explains their disappointment
A poor adaptation of an enthralling novel - By: , 06 Dec 2001 
This lavishly costumed drama may disappoint anyone who has read the novel by Stella Tillyard. The Lennox sisters are difficult to identify, with several changes of actress & the dialogue is hardly what could be callled 'period' - George 11 is played like an old buffoon, without the merest hint of his German accent (in truth he hated speaking in English.) There are substantial cuts in characters & time to fit the novel into 4 episodes & one gets the impression that this melodrama is targeted at an audience more familiar with Eastenders. Let us hope that this is not the shape of BBC period dramas to come!
Excellent! - By: , 22 Jun 2001 
A perfect, wonderful video for anyone who loves costume dramas, especiallly as it is based on a true story.
Beautifully well done, stunning with gorgeous costumes! - By: Amy Wallace, 27 Feb 2001 I first saw this on the television late at night. I only saw the first 10 minutes & I went out & bought the set of videos.
This story is based around the Lennox sisters, weathly aritocrats who have everything they could ever dream for. All the sisters have different stories to tell & what tales they are. I highly reccomend this series if you like costumes & enjoy drama.
Although it is sad around the ending, I still think it is just an amazing tale.
