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List Price: $24.99Amazon.com's Price: $21.99 You Save: $3.00 (12%)Prices subject to change.
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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 0032031422193
Format: Classical, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled
Label: KULTUR VIDEO
Manufacturer: KULTUR VIDEO
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: KULTUR VIDEO
Region Code: 1
Release Date: July 31, 2007
Running Time: 152 minutes
Sales Rank: 62728
Studio: KULTUR VIDEO
Editorial Review:
Product Description:
England, My England
Written By John Osborne And Charles Wood
Charles: Simon Callow
Henry Purcell: Michael Ball
Mary: Rebecca Front
Nell: Lucy Speed
Pepys: John Shrapnel
Dryden: Robert Stephens
Bill: Bill Kenwright
Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists
Music performed by
Jennifer Smith, Lynn Dawson, Nancy Argenta
Susan Graham, Michael Chance, Paul Agnew
Stephen Varcoe, Peter Harvey, David Thomas
Tony Palmer directs this unique film drama about the great English composer Henry Purcell. Very little is known about his life, but the script, by the late John Osborne and Charles Wood, solves this problem by launching a group of actors in the 1960s on a voyage of discovery into late-17th century England, the extraordinary period in which Purcell lived. But it is Purcell s music which is the driving force of this dramatisation, with the stunning soundtrack conducted by John Eliot Gardiner.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Stuck in a Time Warp
Since not much is known about Henry Purcell's life, the DVD focuses on the rantings of a writer/actor seeking to portray the England of Purcell's time. Unfortunately, the scenes jump from the late 60's to the 1600's and back again in a distracting manner. A lot of time is wasted on soap box monologues that have nothing to do with Purcell, or the England of his day. The DVD is a patchwork of dramatic scenes leading to the dramatist's hoped-for goal. In retrospect, this type of filming has become ... Read More
Rating:  - England, My England -- The Story of Henry Purcell
The music was great, but the movie had neither closed captions nor subtitles. As I'm getting a bit hard of hearing and the British accents were a bit thick, I followed very little of the story. It might have been great, but other than the vaguest outlines of the birth, life and death of Purcell and the events of his era, with which I was somewhat acquainted, I didn't know what was going on. It may well have deserved more than two stars, but I couln't tell. Closed captions or subtitles should be standard. ... Read More
Rating:  - Patchy, long-winded, heavy-handed... but the music is great
I have owned the spectacular soundtrack of this production for years and was glad to see the movie itself now made available on dvd. But seeing it again turned out somewhat of a disappointment. Maybe BBC viewers have been spoiled by too much very well made historical drama to be particularly impressed by this film. The recent series on Charles II (starring the charismatic Rufus Sewell) was extremely powerful and by comparison makes the merry monarch look like a pretty pale figure here. The present film's greatest ... Read More
Rating: - De gustibus non est disputandum
Since historical facts concerning Henry Purcell are skimpy, the writers and producers of this Monty Python account of his life decided to fill in the details with actors in period dress hamming it up through various time periods, including the present. It's a pity, because we really do need a serious documentary on Purcell -- and this certainly doesn't fill the bill. (Incidentally, the accent seems to be shifting around again from Purcell' to Pur'cell, to Purcell'. Which is it?)
The two stars I have ... Read More
Rating:  - a voice teacher and early music fan
TONY PALMER, VERSITILE FILMMAKER COMBINED WITH THE CREATIVITY OF JOHN ELIOT GARDINER CREATE AN HISTORICAL MASTERPIECE !!!!!
Tony Palmer, filmmaker, has produced films in virtually all genres, but he obviously loves music and musicians. So it is not surprising that he would produce a film about Henry Purcell. Sometimes rambling, but always fascinating; part biography of Purcell and part actors putting on a play about Purcell.
Not much is known about the historical Purcell, whose music (in ... Read More
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