Customer Reviews

Country Matters

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Despite the term "heartwarming" in the descriptive copy on the back of the "Country Matters" DVD case, most of the episodes are reminiscent of Thomas Hardy. They are slow, brooding, and mostly focus on rural life as it really was for the poorer classes: Isolated locations; dark, dirty cottages; bare economic survival; few acquaintances; poor verbal communication; and extremely limited options in life. In most episodes, the central character is offered one chance at a better life, usually economic improvement and/or love and/or escape from a bad family. And usually, fails to get it due to either poor choices or bad luck, and then is made to realize how dreary things will be for the rest of his or her life. It's a good series, but don't watch more than one or two episodes in an evening if you want cheerful dreams.

The rural locations are beautiful, the costumes are pretty good, the acting is excellent, in short the production values of this series are high. Except--and it's a big except--for the music. British folk music would have accented the series extremely well. Instead, the music for every single episode consists of a little-varied, much-repeated, rinky-dinky, incongruously upbeat, rather electronic tune which, if memory serves, is also the theme for the BBC "Lovejoy" detective series. If BBC couldn't shell out enough for decent music at the time the series was filmed, they ought to have done it before issuing this DVD.

The Mill is the one gem in the collection, and what a rare gem it is. One hour of movie-making brilliance.
A rough promise carefully sifted from the human sands; separated; graded; properly dopped; beautifully faceted, polished and set.
It is one of the most psychologically brutal pieces ever filmed. Its immediate after-taste left me ashamed of my culture, gender and biological family. This gustatory sensation lingers still, after one viewing and the lapse of some 36+ years.

Th first story was a little slow, but on the whole I thoroughly enjoyed the DVD

Koch Vision and BBC presents "COUNTRY MATTERS" (1972) (411 mins/Color) (Dolby Digital) --- Country Matters was an anthology of H. E Bates and A. E. Coppard adaptations that aired on Masterpiece Theatre throughout the '70s, and the dramatizations are of the Masterpiece cliché, including starched acting, longing glances, endless rain --- The DVD collects eight randomly selected episodes from both seasons --- Stories are so sparse that sometimes a single sentence can give away the entire hour, but they all boil down to the same plot --- Boy meets girl, romance ensues, things end badly but this was BBC television at its finest in the early '70s.

Under the production staff of:
Donald McWhinnie - Director
Barry Davis - Director
John McKenzie - Director
Richard Martin - Director
Silvio Narizzano - Director
Derek Granger - Producer
A.E. Coppoard - Writer
H.E. Bates - Writer
Hugh Leonard - Adapted
James Saunders - Adapted
Julian Mitchell - Adapted

"COUNTRY MATTERS" (1972) - Season, Episode and Original Date Aired:
DISC ONE (1)
Season 1, Episode 1: Craven Arms (Original Air Date: 20 August 1972)
Season 1, Episode 2: The Mill (Original Air Date: 27 August 1972)
Season 1, Episode 3: The Sullens Sisters (Original Air Date: 3 September 1972)
Season 1, Episode 5: The Watercress Girl (Original Air Date: 17 September 1972)

DISC TWO (2)
Season 2, Episode 1: The Little Farm (Original Air Date: 28 January 1973)
Season 2, Episode 2: The Black Dog (Original Air Date: 4 February 1973)
Season 2, Episode 3: The Higgler (Original Air Date: 11 February 1973)
Season 2, Episode 6: The Ring of Truth (Original Air Date: 4 March 1973)

the cast includes:
Ian McKellen ... David Masterman
Susan Penhaligon ... Ianthe Forrest
Prunella Ransome ... Katherine Forrest
Rosalind Ayres
Robert Keegan
Peter Firth ... Tommy Adams
Penelope Wilton ... Rachel Sullens
Susan Fleetwood ... Mary McDowall
Gareth Thomas ... Frank Oppidan
Brian Marshall ... Tom Richards
Jane Lapotaire ... Orianda
Stephan Chase ... Gerald
Keith Drinkel ... Harvey Whitlow
Mary Weinbark
Prunella Scales
Nicholas Hoyte

Great job by Koch Vision --- looking forward to more high quality titles from the BBC Collection film market --- order your copy now from Amazon or Koch Vision where there are plenty of copies available on DVD, stay tuned once again for top notch releases --- where they are experts in releasing long forgotten films and treasures to the collector.

Total Time: 411 mins on DVD ~ Koch Vision KOCV-6485 ~ (4/01/2008)

Can I please correct the error that several reviews here have made. Country Matters was NOT made by the BBC, but by Granada Television. American viewers often make the mistake of thinking that all Masterpiece Theater presentations come from the BBC. They do not.

Don't waste your money on this one. I've never been so disappointed with a BBC drama. You watch these vignettes and end up scratching your head wondering what the point of the story was. These stories are half baked and NOT heartwarming as described in the product information. These shows are a far cry from the high standard I have come to expect from BBC period drama.

Ian McKellen is an actor that shines in everything he is in. I wish all his filmed work were released on DVD like this Masterpiece Theatre series. Excellent as always.

These were a bit of a disappointment. The costumes and scenery are great, but the stories are so sad. I yearned for a happy ending. I guess there weren't any in those days.

I almost never stop watching something I have started no matter how much I dislike it. I abandoned this steaming pile after 90 of the most painful minutes of my life. My partner was lucky: He lost consciousness halfway through the first story.

The first story features Ian McKellen as an art teacher who is courting three young women all at the same time. Each of the woman is more vapid and uninteresting than the next. The plot was that the art teacher was the most interested in the woman who was the least interested in him. This was one of the most tedious hours I have ever spent watching anything.

I decided to watch the second story hoping things would get beter. Foolish, foolish, foolish. The second story was about an ignorant dolt of a girl whose doltish parents seemed to have little interest in her. She was sent to work for a man and a woman. The woman was an invalid. The man took sexual advantage of the girl. The girl didn't seem to care. At this point I didn't care either so I gave up.

The characters in both episodes were of no interest at all, and the pacing of the stories was deadly. I can't imagine any one deriving any kind of enjoyment from watching these.

Frank Caesar Branchini
Edgewater, MD

I'd been waiting years to find this series because I wanted one historic episode starring Peter Firth: THE SIMPLE LIFE - one of the very first gay-themed "romances" shown on national TV. I was truly let down to find that this 2 disc set did not contain that episode (even though it does contain another episode with Peter Firth).

When I ordered it, I saw Firth listed as one of the stars so I had no idea the set lacked the only episode I actually wanted. I hope this missing episode will be forthcoming at some point