Review of Bertie And Elizabeth

Introduction

This debuted on ITV in June 2002, and it chronicles the romance between King George VI (known as Bertie to his friends and family) and Lady Elizabeth Bowes Lyon, who went onto become Queen and then the Queen Mother.

This is a lavish production considering it was made for TV, and small things such as interchanging between real footage from the 40s and the narrative is well done, and makes the experience more believable, and therefore better.

It stars James Wilby as Bertie, who most recently appeared in Gosford Park. So, all in all, it`s got off to a good start. But can it keep it up? Read on to find out...

Video

It is presented in 16:9 Anamorphic Widescreen, which is good considering this was made for TV. The palette is used well, and as mentioned above the interchange between real footage as it slowly fades to colour is excellent. There are no compression signs, and the visuals are always crisp and clear.

The production focuses on its settings as well as its script, and it`s all the better for it. Locations such as Buckingham Palace or scenes outdoors such as when Bertie and Elizabeth visit the wartorn East End are all presented well.

Audio

A DD 2.0 track is on offer here, and since this is dialogue-driven, it is sufficient. However, Bertie & Elizabeth does have some action scenes (such as archived footage from the Second World War), so when these kick in you can`t help wondering that a DD 5.1 track would have been much better. Gripes aside, the audio is constantly crisp and clear, and the ambience level is just right.

The script is very good overall, although it does start a bit slowly, but once the narrative establishes itself, things start to get better. The dialogue is good, and the different events that occured in his reign are covered well, some more in-depth than others.

Features

And here our luck runs out...

Sure, so far this disc has performed well, audio and visually wise, but unfortunately Carlton have provided us with no extras. How kind of them.

I suppose you could call the interactive menus (which offer you the choice of playing the feature, scene selection or subtitles) are an extra of some sort, but by now DVD should offer us so much more. Instead of being a complete no-show, the disc has scored at least one point, but where the hell did the interesting insight go?

Conclusion

Overall, Bertie & Elizabeth is a comprehensive and enjoyable insight (although of course, it may not be to everyone`s tastes) into the lives of the Royal Family half a century ago, and the disc is solid. However, if it possessed some decent extras (or any extras whatsoever), then it would have upgraded this DVD from a wise purchase to an essential one.

So close but yet so far...