Finding Love at 'Parade's End'

Recently HBO offered the American broadcast of the BBC mini-series "Parade's End." The five hour mini-series is based on the set of novels from Ford Maddox Ford that were collectively known at "Parade's End."

In December 2010, John N. Gray hailed it as "possibly the greatest 20th-century novel in English." Likewise, Mary Gordon labeled it as "quite simply, the best fictional treatment of war in the history of the novel." And the mini-series was solid, but might have been difficult to follow had you not read all three or four of Ford's novels.

I love Benedict Cumberbatch. He is great in "Sherlock," and he's really hot right now. He was great in this, too, as Christopher Tietjens. Rebecca Hall, who plays his vicious wife Sylvia, is great, too. The performances, writing, structure, and directing in this mini-series is strong. It's enjoyable and was engrossing to watch.

That being said, there are inherent problems in trying to fit this much material into five hours. That seems like a good deal of time, but it really isn't. (Just ask the producers of The Bible).

The timing of the mini-series felt a bit rushed and constrained. There are two reasons for this, in my opinion — First, the novels were written in England in the late 1920s. Society, speech patterns, expressions, and modes of conduct were different in that time and place than today. That can make it difficult to follow the action at the outset. Second, by condensing the books, you have to jump through the plot quite a lot. After settling in during the third hour, it became easier to understand what was happening. But it took some effort to jump in.

Probably what I liked most about this journey was the interesting idea, which I assume led to the name. The central character, Christopher Tietjens, maintains an admirable if outmoded view of honor. He calls  it the parade. Despite all that's happened to him — and all the scorn and scandal he's had to endure because of his wife — Tietjens remains an honorable man. (At least until the end, we could sort of argue that one).

It was sort of a fascinating study of a character. In some ways, it reminded me of the husband in "Anna Karenina," telling a story sort of from his point of view. While it was a bit dry and hard to follow at times, I found that part compelling.

While some might be tempted to compare this to "Downton Abbey" — another British piece set in the same period that focuses on life in the upper crust of society — that comparison rings hollow. This isn't interested in that kind of broad storytelling. This is the story of a man whose sense of honor is out of place, who has been cuckholded by a vindictive woman, and who yearns for the sense of true love he finds in an unexpected place.