Fackham Hall – This Rapid-Fire, Humorous Takeoff on Downton Which Is Pleasantly Lightweight.
It could be the notion of uncertain days in the air: after years of dormancy, the parody is staging a comeback. The recent season witnessed the re-emergence of this unserious film style, which, when done well, skewers the pretensions of pompously earnest genre with a torrent of pitched clichés, visual jokes, and stupid-clever puns.
Playful times, so it goes, give rise to knowingly unserious, joke-dense, welcome light amusement.
The Latest Offering in This Absurd Trend
The newest of these silly send-ups comes in the form of Fackham Hall, a takeoff on the British period drama that jabs at the easily mockable self-importance of opulent British period dramas. The screenplay comes from UK-Irish comic Jimmy Carr and overseen by Jim O'Hanlon, the feature finds ample of source material to draw from and wastes none of it.
Starting with a ridiculous beginning and culminating in a ludicrous finish, this amusing upper-class adventure fills all of its 97 minutes with gags and sketches ranging from the childish all the way to the genuinely funny.
A Mimicry of The Gentry and Staff
Similar to Downton, Fackham Hall delivers a pastiche of very self-important the nobility and excessively servile servants. The story centers on the incompetent Lord Davenport (brought to life by a delightfully mannered Damian Lewis) and his book-averse wife, Lady Davenport (Katherine Waterston). After losing their four sons in various calamitous events, their aspirations are pinned on finding matches for their two girls.
The younger daughter, Poppy (Emma Laird), has achieved the family goal of an engagement to the appropriate close relative, Archibald (an impeccably slimy Tom Felton). Yet after she backs out, the onus shifts to the single elder sister, Rose (Thomasin McKenzie), considered an old maid already and and holds radically progressive ideas about female autonomy.
The Film's Humor Lands Most Effectively
The film fares much better when satirizing the suffocating expectations imposed on pre-war ladies – a topic frequently explored for self-serious drama. The trope of proper, coveted womanhood provides the richest punching bags.
The storyline, as is fitting for an intentionally ridiculous parody, takes a back seat to the jokes. The co-writer keeps them maintaining a consistently comedic pace. There is a homicide, a farcical probe, and an illicit love affair between the roguish thief Eric Noone (Ben Radcliffe) and Rose.
A Note on Pure Silliness
Everything is for harmless amusement, though that itself imposes restrictions. The heightened silliness inherent to parody can wear over time, and the entertainment value on this particular variety expires in the space between sketch and feature.
Eventually, you might wish to go back to stories with (very slight) coherence. Yet, one must applaud a wholehearted devotion to the artform. If we're going to amuse ourselves unto oblivion, let's at least see the funny side.
