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A Dance to the Music of Time | 
 enlarge | Director: Christopher Morahan
Actors: Simon Russell Beale, Jonathan Cake, Nicholas Jones, James Purefoy, Paul Rhys
Studio: Acorn Media
Category: DVD
List Price: $59.99
Buy New: $37.17
You Save: $22.82 (38%)
New (36) Used (8) from $34.99
Rating:  19 reviews
Sales Rank: 11631
Format: Box Set, Color, Dvd-video, Letterboxed, Widescreen, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Number Of Discs: 4
Running Time: 415 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.5 x 1.2
MPN: ACRDAMP9705D
UPC: 054961970599
EAN: 0054961970599
ASIN: B000QXDCWY
Theatrical Release Date: 1997
Release Date: August 28, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Studio: Acorn Media Release Date: 08/28/2007 Run time: 415 minutes Rating: Nr
Amazon.com
There'll always be an England--and Anglophiles shall be forever grateful. A Dance to the Music of Time is a sumptuous, leisurely portrait of a time in Britain's history (from the 1920s to the '60s) that epitomizes the pinnacle of romance. At the center of this Dance is Nicholas Jenkins, the narrator of the tales of intrigue, infidelity, queer friendships, and ruthless ambition that intersect throughout the series. Jenkins is played by the appealing James Purefoy, who, with starring turns in the likes of the film Vanity Fair and the HBO series Rome, clearly has not met a period drama he could not master. Flawed but clear-eyed, Jenkins observes the machinations of the upper crust from a bit of a remove, as if watching a play unfold. And unfold it does. The plot is far too intricate to encapsulate, and in the end, plot isn't the appeal of British drawing-room dramas, anyway. Instead, it's the evocation of a time bound by intricate, unspoken rules--which participants seem to spend as much time and furtive energy trying to break as they do abiding by them. Notable characters include the greasy Widmerpool (played by the BAFTA-winning Simon Russell Beale), who, despite being utterly unremarkable, manages to build quite a career in the British government and military. John Gielgud is riveting as the novelist St. John Clarke, whose books are wildly popular but sniffed at by serious critics, and Miranda Richardson is the devilish Pamela Flitton. The miniseries bears more than a passing resemblance to the much-beloved Brideshead Revisited, and in fact the cast of characters is so complex that the boxed set includes a "cheat sheet" guide to the most prominent 15 of them. But keeping tabs is less important than simply being swept into the lush period of time and allowing its gorgeous details wash over the viewer. For Anglophiles, the experience of watching A Dance to the Music of Time is truly transcendent. --A.T. Hurley
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| Customer Reviews: Read 14 more reviews...
Left Wanting More!!!! December 31, 2008
greytalli (Tustin, CA)
I'm not even finished watching the series. I am halfway through the 3rd DVD, but since the first one I've been left feeling cheated. Definitely I see how it has been compared to Brideshead Revisited, but this one is just a tease when it finishes each Part. Each time I finish watching Brideshead I'm satisfied. Watching each Part of Dance is like getting a basic outline without any filled in information, unsatisfying - I'm left hanging. Thank goodness they included a "cheat sheet", but I'm still having a slight problem figuring out who each character is and where they fit in.
After reading other reviews, I really dread coming to the part where Nick ages and they replace him with another actor. What a bummer!!
 A Dance to the Music of Time October 6, 2008
Jayne M. Poston (Nashville TN)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
Spoiler....Disc 1-3 was excellent, HOWEVER, I was so disappointed to see that the actors did not age with the part, but the DIRECTORS REPLACED the main actors altogether. Make sure you get this fact into your head before you buy this series. In fact, I am sorry I bought it, and I wish I could throw it in the trash.
I will not share this series with friends of mine that I pass along my DVDs to, who appreciate my collection of BBC Period TV series/movies. There are much better one in my collection to share. Monarch of the Glen and House of Elliott, Wives & Daughters and a ton of others. I don't want them to be disappointed and angry like I me!
And I hardly ever bother sharing my opinion with others, buy you tell I feel very strongly about this series. I wish I would have read and checked out this series before I bought it. Some people like everything!
 Applause June 18, 2008
Robert W. Creamer
This film (TV) version of "A Dance to the Music of Time" is superb. A lover of Anthony Powell's great book could hardly ask for anything better.
Entertaining and Hypnotic Dramatization June 2, 2008
James A. Gorton (Pasadena, CA USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a fine though flawed attempt to capture the substance of the 12-novel series by Anthony Powell, A Dance to the Music of Time. The series follows its narrator, Nick Jenkins through a large portion of the 20th century, from the '20's through the late '60's, and in so doing, paints a picture of Britain during those years which is absorbing and interesting.
The novels comprising A Dance to the Music of Time are a fascinating portrait of an era and included on lists of the 100 best novels of the 20th century. Hundreds of characters flow through the novels and the interwoven lives of the main characters as the years pass reveal ironies in their earlier relations which are by turns, fascinating, sad or hilarious. Following characters as they mature and change is one of the chief rewards of the series. The novels are an intensely satisfying reading experience and reward re-reading.
To attempt to condense the more than 1,000 pages of the novels into six or seven hours of the series without losing a good deal of the depth and nuance of the novels is probably hopeless. The best to be hoped is that a flavor of the works is preserved along with some of the main narrative threads, which is what the series achieves. The tv series also realized most of the major characters of the books well.
Several reviewers have complained of the final third of the series, but some of the richest and darkest humor of the series is to be found in the final three novels. The Pamela Widmerpool character, in particular, is not to be missed. The change of actor playing Nick Jenkins, the narrator, is somewhat disappointing, but was apparently done to age the character more realistically.
I don't know if this series is particularly intelligible to someone watching without having read the novels. My sense is that it might be somewhat confusing. There are several sites which give condensed reviews of the books, however, which would probably be helpful if you got lost.
Ultimately, a Dance to the Music of Time should not be missed. It is rich, varied and absorbing.
A DAnce to the Music of Time is a Human Comedy to make one sad March 22, 2008
Todd Schaffner (Falls Church, Va USA)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I have seen A Dance to the Music of Time at least twice during the last two weeks and I have found myself both enlightened and confused by it.
This is the type of British television series that I like but never quite
understand, even if I am an Anglophile.
If you like All Things British then this is for you as well as for me.
I am both entertained and saddened by the Human Comedy I have been watching.
I witness the stories of several characters from the 1920' until the 1970's.
I feel the passage of time and the lives of its people too. I can relate
more to the later chapters of this comedy-drama as the highly priviledged
people in it move from middle age to old age as most of us do.
I remember a quotation from 1972, which Bill Moyers quoted back then:
"We have gone from Youth to Decadence without an intervening Golden Age."
I think this quotation summarizes the experiences of the characters here.
They experience life just after The Great War in the 1920's with almost everything in life in front of them. Then they experience the vagaries
of experiences after youth and are not really encouraged by the passage
of time. There is really no Golden Age for any of them from the 1930's
to the 1970's, and many of them do not survive that far.
I feel a note of sadness in the end as nearly everyone in the story is
dead and I wonder, "What was all this for?"
The cast is excellent, but the story is hard to follow at times.
However, I am glad I discovered this series ten years after it was televised. I do not regret it, but I am mystified too.
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