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Body and Soul [1993] (REGION 1) (NTSC)


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A Fresh Story - Great Cast and Acting
Review date: 2008-05-11 Rating: 10 out of 10

Anna Gibson (Kirstin Scott Thomas) has lived 16 years in a closed order of Nuns where she is known as Sister Gabriel. The nuns have a general rule of silence and are forbidden to touch anyone. When her brother Simon Gibson dies in a car crash, Anna is not permitted to attend his funeral - but when a cry for help from her distraught sister-in-law Lynn (Amanda Redman) is relayed to the convent, Rev Mother permits Anna to leave for 1 week to try and help the shocked widow - and her two young sons - cope with their tragic loss.

Anna quickly learns that her brother was less than competent at running the family mill - and that manager Stan Beattie has plans to run the business into the ground in order to buy it cheaply for himself. With loans outstanding and the family home re-mortgaged, heavily pregnant Lynn does not know where to turn. But Anna has a business head on her shoulders - in the convent she runs the very successful (but non profit making) wool supply business to local shops - and before long she is back at the family mill, trying to think of ways to revitalise the business and turn it round before the bank forecloses. The viewer will cheer her on as she attends a wool auction and competently bids for the lots she wants.

A young woman's dilemma as she begins to adapt to the outside world is sympathetically portrayed by the beautiful Kirstin Scott Thomas, whilst Amanda Redman gives strong support as her shattered sister-in-law. There are moments of humour - Anna takes the wheel of the powerful family car when Lynn has a panic attack and cannot drive it any further - causing a long line of following vehicles to crawl along at a sensible 20mph!, her 8 year old nephew cringes when Auntie Anna, in full habit and wimple, drops him off at school and then there is Sister Godric (Dorothy Tutin) who worked in a bank before becoming a nun - she is just the person to prepare a strong Business Plan for the financial backers to consider! There is sadness too as Anna contemplates the new born infants in the hospital whilst Lynn has a check-up - it is clear that Anna regrets that her vocation will mean she will never have children. Although the reason that Anna joined the convent are not explained, hints come in the form of discussions about her alcoholic mother and disjointed, unfeeling family members.

The other reviewer made much of the attitudes of the supporting characters to religion but, from a British point of view, I think they are spot on for the consumer-greed of early 90's England. Religion was not widely discussed and the reactions to Anna in her habit and wimple vary from amazement to discomfort. I watched this with my own Mother who has a strong Christian faith and she found the attitudes to be accurate and believable. City Financier Daniel Stern (the dependable John Bowe) admits his lapsed Jewish faith, but Anna questions if belief can ever completely lapse?

This is a clever 6 part drama which is well worth buying and brings a refreshing angle to the often seen "family-business-in-crisis" dramas of the time. The viewer is behind Anna all the way, has sympathy for the devestation of widowed Lynn and the pain of her two children (both excellent young actors) who have lost their dad - and stand to lose so much more.

Made in 1993 by Granada, this is a drama which will stay with the viewer long after they have seen the final episode.

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Reviews


Too much body, not enough soul!
Review date: 2008-04-10 Rating: 4 out of 10

Too much body, not enough soul!


This sour little mini-series will leave you with a definite bad taste in the mouth. Body and Soul played on Masterpiece Theatre in the early nineties and I was eagerly awaiting the chance to re-view it when it appeared on DVD. After fourteen years, I remembered the story of a nun becoming a business woman. What I didn't remember was the tawdry, sordid view of life in general that this mini-series portrays. While there are several edifying scenes of life in a contemplative monastic community in the first few episodes, these come to an end when the protagonist, Sister Gabriel/Anna Gibson, leaves the convent on sabbatical after her brother commits suicide to take care of the family milling business. Things go down hill from here. Virtually everyone outside of the monastery mocks Anna's vocation and what is more, none of the characters on the "outside" express any kind of faith in a higher being - as a matter of fact, two of the characters, Hal, the mill's foreman as well as Anna's sister-in-law Lynn, say outright that they do not believe in God.


While some will extol this movie as the story of a young woman on a quest of self-discovery, others, life myself, will only see the depressing story of a woman who has lost her way. The fatal flaw in the film is that it never explores why Anna entered the monastery in the first place. Midway through the film I also took a definite dislike to the character of Anna when she purposely goes out to lose her virginity and has no qualms whatsoever about it!


The acting is generally superb, especially Kristen Scott Thomas as the protagonist and Dorothy Tutin as the Mother Superior. Anthony Valentine also gives a notable turn as the villain, Stan Beattie.


The film is so anti-faith (I don't say "religion" because it is not anti-religious - it is plain and simply anti-faith), hedonistic if you will. What a disappointment. If you are looking for something uplifting, do not look here!

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Sandra Voe
Kristin Scott Thomas
Anthony Valentine
Tracy Keating
Amanda Redman

Creators:
Kristin Scott Thomas (Primary Contributor)
Sandra Voe (Primary Contributor)

Recording label: Questar
Manufacturer: Questar
EAN: 0033937037221
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 2
Format: Colour, DVD-Video, NTSC,
Release date: 2007-10-02
Universal product code (UPC): 033937037221
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Region code: 1
Running time: 300 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1993
Language: English (Original Language)

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