A Look at Fackham Hall – A Fast-Paced, Funny Parody of Downton Abbey Which Is Refreshingly Ephemeral.
Maybe the sense of uncertain days around us: after years of quiet, the spoof is staging a resurgence. This summer witnessed the re-emergence of this unserious film style, which, in its finest form, skewers the pretensions of pompously earnest genre with a barrage of pitched clichés, visual jokes, and ridiculously smart wordplay.
Frivolous eras, so it goes, give rise to deliberately shallow, gag-packed, welcome light entertainment.
The Latest Addition in This Goofy Trend
The most recent of these silly send-ups arrives as Fackham Hall, a takeoff on the British period drama that jabs at the highly satirizable pretensions of opulent British period dramas. Penned in part by British-Irish comedian Jimmy Carr and overseen by Jim O'Hanlon, the feature has a wealth of material to draw from and exploits every bit of it.
Opening on a ludicrous start all the way to its outrageous finale, this amusing upper-class adventure fills all of its runtime with jokes and bits running the gamut from the puerile all the way to the truly humorous.
A Pastiche of Upstairs, Downstairs
Similar to Downton, Fackham Hall offers a pastiche of very self-important aristocrats and very obsequious help. The story focuses on the feckless Lord Davenport (played by an enjoyably affected Damian Lewis) and his anti-reading wife, Lady Davenport (Katherine Waterston). Following the loss of their children in various unfortunate mishaps, their plans now rest on securing unions for their two girls.
The younger daughter, Poppy (Emma Laird), has secured the aristocratic objective of betrothal to the right close relative, Archibald (an impeccably slimy Tom Felton). Yet once she pulls out, the pressure falls upon the single elder sister, Rose (Thomasin McKenzie), described as a spinster of a woman" and who harbors unladylike beliefs concerning female autonomy.
The Film's Humor Lands Most Effectively
The parody achieves greater effect when sending up the stifling norms imposed on early 20th-century women – an area often mined for po-faced melodrama. The trope of respectable, enviable womanhood provides the best material for mockery.
The plot, as one would expect from a purposefully absurd spoof, is of lesser importance to the bits. The co-writer serves them up maintaining a pleasantly funny clip. Included is a murder, a bungled inquiry, and a forbidden romance featuring the roguish street urchin Eric Noone (Ben Radcliffe) and Rose.
Limitations and Frivolous Amusement
Everything is for harmless amusement, but that very quality has limitations. The heightened silliness characteristic of the genre may tire quickly, and the comic fuel for this specific type runs out in the space between a skit and a full-length film.
After a while, audiences could long to return to a realm of (at least a modicum of) reason. Yet, one must respect a genuine dedication to this type of comedy. Given that we are to entertain ourselves to death, we might as well see the funny side.
