It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

I was thoroughly enjoying this series (on DVD from the library until - Huh? Who are these people? Completely different cast to portray the older versions in Part 6. I couldn't even watch it because I had no idea, even with closed captioning, who they were! Perhaps it was the BBC insistence on realism that they wouldn't put "old" makeup on young actors but it was quite a let-down.Otherwise, as usual, BBC does a first-rate job with period detail. It's refreshing to see TV be about the story, rather than the celebrities who can't act and are too vain to ever look like a character other than themselves.

I had a problem with this production -- it didn't know what it wanted to be. Was it a faithful account of a true story or was it a Goergian soap opera with harlequin romance cover bedroom scenes? The worst problem was the inconsistency - the period drama with the social commentary was dropped by the end of the series, which had turned into a story of political intrigue, involving characters we knew little about.I enjoyed the series but did not love it. The first two episodes that I thought were going to set the tone for the balance of the series, turned out to have little to do with the rest of the storyline. After the first two episodes, the series became less focused with too many characters and little impact on the storyline.I am sure the book is much better and on a positive, this series does encourage me to go out and read more about these sisters and what really happened. This film was a great introduction to the story but it was far from satisfying.

What happened to the fifth sister is obvious to those who saw the five part version transmitted by BBC Television. She died of tuberculosis.In the US Aristocrats was seen as a three parter on WGBH with a considerably shorter running length. Somethings had to go and since the story was primarily about four sisters the story of the fifth was told as shorthand.

I really loved this movie. It has everything I am looking for, romance, intrigue and beautiful scenery.The only thing I didn't understand was what Cecilia died of. I am planning to read the book to find out.All the actors and actresses including Jodhi May should congratulate themselves on a job well done!