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Fortunes of War | 
 enlarge | Actors: Jack Calloway, Olivia Manning
Studio: BBC Warner
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.98
Buy New: $8.09
You Save: $6.89 (46%)
New (37) Used (15) from $6.90
Rating:  34 reviews
Sales Rank: 12138
Format: Color, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 407 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: WARDE2193D
ISBN: 1419805274
UPC: 794051219329
EAN: 9781419805271
ASIN: B0007LFPJ8
Theatrical Release Date: 1988
Release Date: May 17, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com
"Wherever we are, that will always be the center of things." So professor Guy Pringle reassures his new wife, Harriet. Unfortunately, where they are is Bucharest in 1939, with the Nazis gathering on the border, and fascism casting longer, darker shadows. Thus begins this epic 1987 miniseries based on Olivia Manning's Balkan and Levant trilogies that was originally broadcast in the United States on Masterpiece Theatre. For most Americans, it was an auspicious first look at England's glamorous former First Thespian couple, Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson, who, as one character notes of Harriet, "lightens the darkness." Fortunes of War suggests what Casablanca might have been like had it followed Victor and Ilsa instead of Rick, who famously didn't want to stick his neck out for anybody. Not Guy. "I want to do something more dramatic than lecturing," he proclaims. "It is our duty to shine a little light to hope someone notices." His activities are enough to put him on a Nazi death list, forcing Guy and Harriet to Greece and Egypt. "It isn't a lark," Guy tells Harriet early on, "but it is an adventure." Fortunes of War is populated by colorful characters, most notably the pitiable and decidedly untrustworthy Prince Yakimov (Ronald Pickup), and the dashing young soldier Simon Boulderstone (Rupert Graves of The Forsythe Saga and A Room with a View). There is plenty of intrigue, betrayals, domestic melodrama, and emotional separations and reunions to propel this nearly seven-hour production to its powerful conclusion. Readers of Manning's books and Branagh and Thompson fans will find the release of War good fortune indeed. --Donald Liebenson
Product Description
Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 05/17/2005 Run time: 407 minutes
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| Customer Reviews: Read 29 more reviews...
 Fortunes of War November 2, 2008
Cynthia A. Masters
Received this item in good time and good quality. Enjoyed the excellent character acting, scenery and a side to WWII I knew very little about.
BBC MINI-SERIES - NOT TO BE MISSED October 26, 2008
Can Çömlekçi (Istanbul Turkey)
Olivia Manning was a British novelist of some renown, mainly due to her novels set during WWII in Bucharest, Athens and Cairo and based on the life she and her husband experienced as ex-pats and finally as exiles. During Manning's lifetime there were plans for some of her novels to be filmed but that did not transpire until 1987, several years after her death. At that time the BBC produced a brilliant mini-series called The Fortunes of War. Emma Thompson and Kenneth Branagh (who were later to marry and still later divorce) portrayed the characters of Harriet and Guy Pringle to such an effect that the viewer can feel these actors are indeed the Pringles (and by extension Manning and her husband). The DVD version that was issued in 2005 is a must-see for anyone who loves both literature and history and will enthrall those who celebrate the art of acting.
Can Çömlekçi
Istanbul Turkey
a classic! October 17, 2008
Eileen Schmitt (South Bend, IN)
I loved Olivia Manning's novels and this mini-series is one of the best adaptations of a beloved literary work I have ever seen. Ronald Pickup's performance as Yakimov is just perfect! The video stands on its own but it is especially satisfying for those who have read the novels.
Great movie magic May 28, 2008
My life is a movie (Atlanta, Georgia United States)
I'm watching this for the 2nd time and just savoring it, watching one or two episodes a night. It's great storytelling, acting, directing, cinematography, etc. Subtle but powerful. I must remember to recommend it to others like my sister who enjoys the same types of films I do instead of selfishly keeping it to myself. But at least I'm sharing my opinion with you, aren't I? ;-)
Brilliantly written May 16, 2008
M. Oshei (Buffalo)
One of the early pieces with Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson. Amazing cast of interesting characters moving through Europe, Egypt and Eastern Europe just ahead of the Axis invasions becoming World War II. I saw bits and pieces on Masterpiece Theatre many years ago - very memorable.
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