The movie is good if one considers it almost as a portrait, first an idyllic view of high-class English country house life in the 30's, then of war as a collective tragedy.



The scenes of the English retreat on the French coast and at the war hospital are really touching and moving, effectively portraying the miseries of war. However, as valuable as they are on a stand alone basis, they seem, in some way, not truly connected into the plot.



Telling the story from different points of view, is also an interesting recourse that, during the first minutes, leads one to hope that the story will deliver much more than what it finally does.



The problem is that the movie almost completely fails when trying to convey the characters' personal tragedies.



With the exception of the actress that plays Brioney as a young woman during war-time, who is decidedly awful (peformance full of soap opera ticks), all other actors are, at least, correct in their roles (Vanessa Redgrave's last minutes are superb), but the film fails to arise any emotions, characters are very schematically described and the whole love story is always distant and cold. Only V.R.'s last minutes are succesful in transmitting intimate tragedy, but the rest of the film (with the exception of the English retreat) is, perhaps, a too high price to pay for just these few enjoyable moments.