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. |
| Starring: Michael Kitchen, Anthony Howell,
Julian Ovenden, Honeysuckle Weeks, Joanna David, Nicholas Farrell,
Amanda Root Directed by: Giles
Foster, Jeremy Silberston |
Original Broadcast Date: 2003
DVD Release: 2004
Released by: Acorn MediaDolby
Digital 2.0 stereo
Widescreen (anamorphic) |
We met detective chief superintendent
Christopher Foyle last year, either in a broadcast on PBS or on the Set 1 group of DVDs
from Acorn Media. At the beginning of World War II, Foyle was assigned to duty on the
coast of England, but would have much preferred to support the war effort directly. He had
applied for a transfer, and though it was granted toward the end of the first episode,
Foyle could not accept it. He was involved in a murder case that only he could solve. He
had to stay. We can be grateful for that. Had he been transferred, we would have been
robbed of one of the most entertaining and imaginative television series ever to appear on
screen.
Early Kitchen Entrée Concurrently
with Foyle’s release, Acorn Media has released the 1980 television
movie, Caught on a Train (****), which stars a young Michael Kitchen and Dame Peggy
Ashcroft. The highly regarded movie, which won three BAFTA awards, is a tour de force for
the two consummate actors. Kitchen plays a young man who catches a train from London to
Vienna, planning to get off in Germany to attend a conference. He is sharing a compartment
with a young American woman he fancies. There are two others in the compartment already
when Frau Messner (Ashcroft), an old German aristocrat, arrives. The two play cat and
mouse through the rest of the movie, developing a relationship that reveals much about
their lives, and educates Kitchen about his. Kitchen and Ashcroft make this infuriating
relationship a joy to watch.
The action is set against a restless Europe. At that time,
there had been many terrorist bombings and police were prominent at stations and on board
trains. There is a feeling of paranoia throughout the movie that is most effective, and
the drama will have you riveted to the screen.
The DVD picture is good once you get past the first few
minutes, which are grainy and not so hot. Things rapidly improve, though the film does
look dated when compared to more recent efforts, such as Foyle’s War.
There are some extras, including a featurette that has
segments with writer Stephen Poliakoff. The author also shares a commentary track with
producer Kenith Trodd. The box notes state that this is the UK broadcast edition, but what
that is and how it might differ from any other version is never fully explained…
...Rad Bennett
radb@hometheatersound.com |
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The shows are unique for being set during World War II,
when terror gripped the coastal towns of England. The residents were fearful of either
direct invasion from the ocean, or of suffering death and destruction from Hitler’s
falling bombs. The series serves an important purpose in showing us that it was not just
Londoners who feared for their lives during the Great Conflict.
The show mixes and blends war themes with the usual crimes
one might expect on a detective show. "Fifty Ships," the first of the four
episodes, examines a ring of looters that robs recently bombed facilities, and the murder
of one of the looters. This leads Foyle into conflict with his superiors, who try to
protect the murderer for reasons vital to the war effort. "Among the Few," the
second show, concerns an illicit fuel oil racket aimed at getting around rationing, and
involves Foyle’s son, a pilot in the Royal Air Force. "War Games," the
third installment, starts with a seemingly simple murder, which spins into a vendetta on
big corporations that made profits from the war. The final show, "The Funk
Hole," takes place at a hotel where well-off London residents can buy a wartime
retreat from the city. Each displays cinematic storytelling at its very best.
Michael Kitchen plays Foyle. Actually, he seems to become
Foyle: quiet, well-mannered, reserved, but with a mind like a steel trap. As each mystery
develops, the viewer begins to wonder just how its elements will jell, knowing that in the
last 15 minutes, Foyle will put it all together like so much child’s play. Kitchen is
magnificent and his supporting cast is no less so.
The production values for this series are very high. Sets
and props seem entirely authentic, and the hairdos and clothes match the period. Every
scene has been filmed in superb detail and is transferred to DVD in the highest-quality
anamorphic video. By the time that they are transferred out of the British PAL system into
NTSC, many British shows lose color, or color seems to look a bit funky. Not Foyle’s
War. This show looks like the best theatrical films. In fact, considering the
crackerjack scripts, acting, and the 100-minute length of each episode, each comes across
like a four-star movie.
The sound is listed as Dolby Digital stereo, and Acorn
confirmed this, but run through a Dolby Digital decoder it produces quite natural
surround. Otherwise, the sound has good dynamic and frequency range, and dialogue can be
heard clearly. Each disc is housed in its own separate keep-case; the four inserted into
an outer cardboard case that holds them together as a set.
One would like to know more about Michael Kitchen, but
Acorn informs me that he absolutely refuses to give interviews. It is Honeysuckle Weeks,
the feisty young woman who plays Foyle’s driver, and Anthony Howell who provide
interviews for an all too brief extra on the first disc. Each disc contains production
notes and cast filmographies. Foyle’s War is a quality act that everyone
should try to see. |
