Fortunes rise and fortunes fall. Four young American Women, living in the world of 1870s England find themselves sailing the treacherous waters of the social world of the well to do. Will they break themselves against the reefs or sail successfully to shore, loaded down with treasure?
The Buccaneers, a 1995 BBC miniseries is based on Edith Wharton’s unfinished novel by the same name. Wharton, who grew up in the elite circles of 19th century society, a contemporary of the Astons and the Vanderbilts, knew all about the pressures of marriage and position that might befall a young American, whose grasping family seek a noble title to give some validation to their new money.
In reality, one very famous marriage was between an unwilling Consuelo Vanderbilt and the desperate-for-money Ninth Duke of Marlborough. They later divorced.
The fictional story, has such well created characters that you might wonder if they actually did live.
Nan and Virginia St. George (Carla Gugino and Alison Elliott, two American sisters follow their friend Conchita Closson (Mira Sorvino), a Brazilian bad girl of dubious decent who marries a dissolute British lord, in order to find their own aristocratic husbands. Their friend, Lizzie, who acts as a sort of a foil, and Nan’s clever governess, Miss Testvalley, complete the ensemble.
What happens when the women get everything that they thought they wanted? Let us just say that things aren’t always as they seem.
There are some moments that are a little painful too watch, a few too many heaving bosoms, but the dramatic moments are never overdone, and the emotion runs deep but full of grace.
The costumes and scenery are gorgeous, and well worth paying attention to without having them be distracting to the story line. It was filmed in various locations in the English county side, as well as in Newport, one of the hot spots for American wealth in the nineteenth century.
If you are a fan of such movies as Pride and Prejudice or The Age of Innocence, you should enjoy this one as well.
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