Body and Soul

• Lilies
• Cranford
• The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
• Masterpiece Theatre: Northanger Abbey
• Becoming Jane
• Masterpiece Theatre - Secret Life of Mrs. Beeton
• The Inheritance
• Persuasion
• A Dance to the Music of Time
• These Foolish Things

The cast was excellent, the screenplay interesting, though the storyline about a nun leaving a convent is not unique. For some that will be toubling. It leaves us unfulfilled and wondering: and then.

(Trying here not to give anything important away). I honestly thought I must have missed an epsiode or that there was a missing disc. What happens next. As a result, the series feels disappointing and anti-climatic It is cowardly of a director not to have gone farther with the plot. Not one has a finality except for the character who is the cause of all problems, and a dead nun. I was talking about the series' ending. Having watched all the epsiodes I am disappointed that the resolution was so weak.

What about her sister-in-law's life. Did she have regrets later. What about the other characters who are integrated into the plot.

Clearly, she chooses the world she wants, but what happens to the two men who are so involved in her life. I have a 2 disc set (marketed may I say in the most difficult packaging I have ever encountered for a DVD. And that is the point, what is the ending.

Had I wished to invent my opwn ending, I would have written the screnplay myself. Other reviewers have noted the issue of faith and the critical reception she met dressed as a nun in the outside world. My nails broke and fingers ached after struggling with the release buttons to free the discs, but I digress).

I read all the current reviews after I saw the mini-series, because I was searching for one that might explain the ending. Did she have the children she so desperately desired.

There are scenes in this video that must have been edited when it was shown on PBS's Masterpiece Theater. The cover states it is the same version, but these scenes would certainly raise the ire of the FCC.

What a disappointment. After fourteen years, I remembered the story of a nun becoming a business woman. Virtually everyone outside of the monastery mocks Anna's vocation and what is more, none of the characters on the "outside" express any kind of faith in a higher being - as a matter of fact, two of the characters, Hal, the mill's foreman as well as Anna's sister-in-law Lynn, say outright that they do not believe in God. What I didn't remember was the tawdry, sordid view of life in general that this mini-series portrays.

While there are several edifying scenes of life in a contemplative monastic community in the first few episodes, these come to an end when the protagonist, Sister Gabriel/Anna Gibson, leaves the convent on sabbatical after her brother commits suicide to take care of the family milling business. While some will extol this movie as the story of a young woman on a quest of self-discovery, others, life myself, will only see the depressing story of a woman who has lost her way. If you are looking for something uplifting, do not look here. The acting is generally superb, especially Kristen Scott Thomas as the protagonist and Dorothy Tutin as the Mother Superior.

The fatal flaw in the film is that it never explores why Anna entered the monastery in the first place. Things go down hill from here.

Body and Soul played on Masterpiece Theatre in the early nineties and I was eagerly awaiting the chance to re-view it when it appeared on DVD. Anthony Valentine also gives a notable turn as the villain, Stan Beattie.

The film is so anti-faith (I don't say "religion" because it is not anti-religious - it is plain and simply anti-faith), hedonistic if you will. This sour little mini-series will leave you with a definite bad taste in the mouth. Too much body, not enough soul.

Midway through the film I also took a definite dislike to the character of Anna when she purposely goes out to lose her virginity and has no qualms whatsoever about it.

This mini-series features the then relatively new face of Kristin Scott Thomas,before she stole this critic's heart in "The English Patient",starring opposite Ralph Fiennes.In this quite long production -it runs for several hours-,she plays the part of a nun,living a very ordered and introspective life in a Welsh monastery,who is called on to come to the aid of her brother's wife,after the brother dies mysteriously ina car accident.Kristin Scott Thomas is given permission to spend a week with her sister-in-law,played by Amanda Redman,who is very pregnant and already the mother of 3 other children.Her husband's death has left the family in very parlous state and KST is almost overwhelmed by the mess her brother has left behind.Not only is his family suffering.The family spinning and textile business is on the verge of collapse.Sister and sister-in-law have to sort out their own lives besdies attending to the failing workplace and the vultures who are circling to pick up the pieces. Kristin Scott Thomas is possibly England's best actress,in this person's opinion.This is a good tale,well acted.It's believable and it lifts your spirits.It's a great screenplay and the settings seem authentic.This is a very good purchase.Highly recommended.