Fackham Hall – A Rapid-Fire, Witty Takeoff on Downton That's Pleasantly Throwaway.
Perhaps the notion of end times around us: following a long period of dormancy, the parody is staging a return. This summer saw the rebirth of this unserious film style, which, when done well, lampoons the grandiosity of excessively solemn dramas with a flood of heightened tropes, visual jokes, and ridiculously smart wordplay.
Frivolous eras, it seems, beget self-awarely frivolous, joke-dense, welcome light entertainment.
The Newest Offering in This Absurd Resurgence
The most recent of these silly send-ups comes in the form of Fackham Hall, a parody of Downton Abbey that jabs at the highly satirizable self-importance of gilded UK historical series. Co-written by British-Irish comedian Jimmy Carr and directed by Jim O'Hanlon, the movie finds ample of source material to draw from and exploits every bit of it.
Starting with a ridiculous beginning all the way to its outrageous finale, this entertaining upper-class adventure fills every one of its runtime with puns and routines ranging from the childish all the way to the genuinely funny.
A Send-Up of Aristocrats and Servants
Similar to Downton, Fackham Hall presents a caricature of overly dignified aristocrats and overly fawning staff. The plot focuses on the incompetent Lord Davenport (brought to life by a delightfully mannered Damian Lewis) and his literature-hating wife, Lady Davenport (Katherine Waterston). Following the loss of their four sons in various calamitous events, their aspirations now rest on marrying off their daughters.
The younger daughter, Poppy (Emma Laird), has accomplished the dynastic aim of a promise to marry the suitable first cousin, Archibald (an impeccably slimy Tom Felton). However once she withdraws, the pressure falls upon the single elder sister, Rose (Thomasin McKenzie), described as an old maid at 23 and and possesses unladylike notions concerning women's independence.
Its Laughs Works Best
The film fares much better when sending up the suffocating norms placed on early 20th-century females – a subject frequently explored for self-serious drama. The archetype of proper, coveted ladylike behavior provides the most fertile comic targets.
The narrative thread, as is fitting for a purposefully absurd spoof, is secondary to the jokes. Carr serves them up coming at an amiably humorous pace. Included is a homicide, an incompetent investigation, and a star-crossed attraction featuring the charming street urchin Eric Noone (Ben Radcliffe) and Rose.
Limitations and Pure Silliness
The entire affair is for harmless amusement, though that itself comes with constraints. The dialed-up absurdity of a spoof may tire after a while, and the comic fuel for this specific type runs out somewhere between a skit and a full-length film.
At a certain point, one may desire to go back to the world of (at least a modicum of) coherence. Nevertheless, you have to applaud a wholehearted devotion to the artform. In an age where we might to distract ourselves to death, it's preferable to find the humor in it.
