A Look at Fackham Hall – This Fast-Paced, Humorous Downton Abbey Spoof Which Is Refreshingly Ephemeral.
Maybe the feeling of end times pervading: following a long period of inactivity, the spoof is staging a resurgence. This summer saw the re-emergence of this unserious film style, which, in its finest form, lampoons the pretensions of pompously earnest dramas with a torrent of pitched clichés, visual jokes, and stupid-clever puns.
Playful times, apparently, beget knowingly unserious, laugh-filled, welcome light fun.
The Newest Offering in This Silly Wave
The newest of these silly send-ups is Fackham Hall, a takeoff on the British period drama that pokes fun at the easily mockable self-importance of gilded UK historical series. The screenplay comes from stand-up performer Jimmy Carr and overseen by Jim O'Hanlon, the film has plenty of material to draw from and uses all of it.
Opening on a absurd opening and culminating in a outrageous finale, this entertaining aristocratic caper fills all of its runtime with gags and sketches running the gamut from the puerile up to the genuinely funny.
A Pastiche of The Gentry and Staff
In the vein of Downton, Fackham Hall delivers a caricature of very self-important rich people and overly fawning help. The narrative revolves around the incompetent Lord Davenport (portrayed by an enjoyably affected Damian Lewis) and his anti-reading wife, Lady Davenport (Katherine Waterston). Following the loss of their male heirs in separate calamitous events, their aspirations fall upon marrying off their daughters.
The junior daughter, Poppy (Emma Laird), has secured the aristocratic objective of an engagement to the appropriate close relative, Archibald (an impeccably slimy Tom Felton). However once she backs out, the onus transfers to the unmarried elder sister, Rose (Thomasin McKenzie), described as a "dried-up husk of a woman" and and holds unladylike beliefs about women's independence.
Where the Comedy Works Best
The parody achieves greater effect when sending up the oppressive social constraints forced upon Edwardian-era ladies – an area typically treated for self-serious drama. The trope of idealized womanhood provides the most fertile comic targets.
The storyline, as befitting a purposefully absurd parody, is of lesser importance to the bits. Carr serves them up maintaining a consistently comedic pace. There is a murder, an incompetent investigation, and an illicit love affair between the charming thief Eric Noone (Ben Radcliffe) and Rose.
A Note on Lighthearted Fun
Everything is in lighthearted fun, but that very quality has limitations. The heightened absurdity inherent to parody might grate quickly, and the comic fuel for this specific type diminishes in the space between a skit and feature.
Eventually, you might wish to go back to stories with (very slight) coherence. Nevertheless, one must respect a genuine dedication to the craft. If we're going to amuse ourselves to death, let's at least find the humor in it.
