emuir-1
Fortunately one can apply the fast forward button when watching a DVD. I struggled through part one, then decided to hit the fast forward every time the action moved from the trench warfare to the sappy romance complete with background piano. If this had been a Swedish film it could not have been slower. It would have been better to focus on the futility and horrors of WWI and scrap the romance, or to confine the romance to part one, and WWI to part 2 with no flashbacks. Perhaps if the director had cut the long pauses between Stephen and Isabelle it might have helped. When the ubiquitous weepy soap opera ending was revealed, I groaned.By contrast, the WWI story was spellbinding, particularly the character of Jack Firebrace. If the tedious romance bogged it down, the flitting back and forth from 1910 Amiens to WWI was overdone. Save it for MTV. Too much, too often, and too fast.
lucejuice100
Having been anticipating this mini series with some degree of excitement I was extremely disappointed by the complete lack of emotion through out the drama. I am a huge fan of romantic period pieces and expected to enjoy Birdsong very much. On watching the series I found myself struggling to care for any of the characters, I was completely unconvinced by the romance between the central characters, Stephen (Eddie Redmayne) and Isabelle (Clemence Posey). I felt there was no real development and was therefore unmoved. While it all looked very nice, the storytelling was appalling, there was so much mumbling it was almost as if the director had instructed the actors to be incoherent! I would definitely not recommend Birdsong to anyone and feel one star is generous!
Erik
This review may contain spoilers. And it should if you want to stay away from this. I don't understand todays castings in many films and series - it must be that some so called actors only get their parts from the reason that they're related to the producers or some such explanation. Eddie Redmayne must be such an "actor", which is a very generous term in his case. Every other participant in this series is actually doing their jobs! Especially Clémence Poésy and Joseph Mawle who doesn't shine here, but does a decent working part.The story and overall plot is very straight forward, and one easily gets involved in the love affair and more recent situation in the trenches of WWI. But the wooden acting of Mr. Redmayne annoyed me from the start! His face doesn't even move much during the shoots. He keeps the same dumbfounded look in every situation! Even when he's seriously wounded and presumed dead, even then he's as expressive as a door knob! Gods! Please will someone explain to Mr. Redmayne that he's chosen the wrong occupation! He's certainly not an actor. And never will be.
steven-222
This movie has fine production values, good actors, moving music...but the love story left me cold. There is zero chemistry between the lovers, and its seems a cheat to make her (otherwise quite desirable) husband impotent.More to the point...what was the point? After showing us just how miserable WWI was, and how degraded human institutions are (sending young men to die horribly for no good reason), and how pointless love and human relationships are, because life leads inevitably to suffering and death...our transcendent ending comes with the revelation that a child has been born--so hooray, the cycle of misery can just go on and on. This is the standard "uplifting" ending to many a novel and movie, but for me, it just won't cut it any more. The "miracle" of progeny is the exact opposite, no miracle at all but one of the most common things in the world. Two people screwed and created a baby. Big deal.I respect the integrity and the ambitious nature of this movie--but only up to a point. If you want to bite off a really big theme (human futility), you'll have to take me somewhere else. Making a baby merely plays the hand dealt to us by the Selfish Gene, our only true lord and master. It's not a solution or a resolution to anything, not even a made-up story.
