Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8041 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-06-30
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 219 minutes

DVD Description
Set in 1918, writer Vita Sackville-West and British aristocrat Harold Nicolson are a golden couple, who socialised in high society literary circles and whose friends included Virginia Woolf and T S Elliot.

Married in 1913, their love endured and deepended over the course of their 50 years together. Each, however, was knowingly and repeatedly unfaithful to the other, Vita most famously with fellow writer Virginia Woolf. But only one affair threatened their union: Vita's tempestuous liaison with her childhood friend Violet Keppel.

This 1990 BBC drama is the story of that affair based on an extraordinary literary biography by Nigel Nicolson, Vita and Harold's son.

Starring Janet McTeer (Songcatcher, The Governor), David Haig (Keeping Mum, Campion) and Cathryn Harrison (Original Sin, Wuthering Heights).

This adaptation of Portrait of a Marriage won 3 Bafta Awards.

Synopsis
Set in 1918, Vita and Harold are a golden couple, who socialised in high society literary circles and who friends included Virginia Woolf and TS Elliot.

Customer Reviews

A marriage of intrigue and bewilderment: for modern standards nothing but social dinosaurs,
Based on the book by their son Nigel this movie shows the story of the marriage of Vita Sackville-West, the famous novelist, poet and biographer, and Sir Harold Nicolson, diplomat and author. Vita had numerous love affaires with woman, while Harald had his male affaires. Nevertheless the couple maintained their marriage - bisexual couple share a bond of understanding and affection.

The central issue is affaire of Vita with Violet Keppel, Mrs. Denys Trefusis, the daughter of Alice Keppel, the famous mistress of King Edward VII and aunt to Camilla Parker-Bowles. It is quite an amazing story and most instructive in class terms and prejudices against homosexual love.

For modern viewers there is nothing shocking in the sexual sense; but the social behaviour is breathtakingly shocking: duplicitous, self-seeking, naive, decant and hypocritical and utterly snobbish. The break off scene between Vita and Violet in a hotel in France is so utterly kitsch and silly, but very difficult to stomach: Vita breaks off with Violet because she might have sexual relations with Denys Trefusis, the man she recently had married, whilst Vita has two children with Harold and actually the Trefusis-Keppel marriage contract stipulates that no sexual relations will take place and they did not. How very trifle!!

The concerns about money, status and class are unbelievable and watching it seems to me one is watching social dinosaurs. Sex and marriage are separated and more often they spend their lives apart, except in old ages one is moving closer. The worse part at last: the treatment of the children of this upper-class lady, especially Vita is just disgusting. One could be homosexual, but one needed to be discreet. Harold was, so it fine, Vita and Violet were not and therefore it was scandalous.

All in all it is a great movie to learn about the upper-class world between the two world wars. The acting portraits this to perfection. Gay love still is difficult as it has to encounter still prejudices, but the world has luckily moved on and wed live so much freer. So it is look back into a world long gone. Let us hope it stays that way.

Biographies
Excellent DVD. Good insight into the marriage and life of Vita Sackville-West. Good value for money.