It’s a weird thing when you get an email asking if you want to interview someone. I don’t pretend that I know everything, and that means that this interview I was scared of. Downton Abbey is an institution, one that I didn’t know all too well. But as I turned on the first movie to watch, I knew I was in for something special.
Besides the all-star ensemble cast, the settings, the clothes, and the beauty of the movies will draw you in. Now, I don’t know the series – I have only seen the movies. But the movies drew me in and left me thinking just how beautiful it was, but also why the movies were important.
Especially the third movie.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I know that I am a person who can find something deep in anything. You wanna tell me about how the ABCs changed your life? I will find a way to spin it because I believe that you can learn something from everything that you watch. This one was easy, though, because it just hit me with a ton of tears rolling down my cheeks.
And Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale was a lesson in how to say goodbye. The whole don’t be sad that it’s over, but smile because it happened, kind of lesson, but a lesson nonetheless.
Simon Curtis, who we spoke with about the movie, delivered an iconic wrap-up to a series that changed the game, and movies that prove that just because something is ending doesn’t mean that it can’t be beautiful. There is beauty in goodbye.
When making any movie or television show, you hope that it resonates with the audience. Having looked up a lot of what people thought of the series and of the movies, I knew that it was all over the board as to what people thought of it. But I clung to the positive ones, because I thought that it was positive.
When asking Curtis if he thought it resonated, the director said, “I’m absolutely delighted by the way audiences reacted to the films, but I still feel in the critical film community, they don’t quite give it the status it deserves because it’s one of the greatest ensembles of British actors. In fact, you could argue one of the greatest ensembles of any nationality on that screen. Julian is one of the greatest writers, especially for an ensemble. I don’t think it quite gets the credit it deserves, if I’m honest.”
Though I didn’t think I was opening a can of worms, I couldn’t help but see his POV. I watch a lot of television and movies, and I don’t think that Downton Abbey gets all the credit that it deserves. And I say that because of how beautiful it is, but also because of the cast.
An iconic cast that comes together flawlessly and makes you take notice. A cast that remembers the ones there and the ones gone. I could only imagine the pressure that Curtis had to get it right – for himself and for the fans. Curtis captivated me with his response that it was a privilege.
He said, “It did mean a lot to me for various reasons. I wanted it to be this rewarding finale. I didn’t feel so much as pressure as a privilege, because when those characters are saying goodbye in that sequence of scenes at the end, it’s infused by the emotion of the audience saying goodbye to them, and the actors saying goodbye to each other. It’s a very rare, beautiful thing.”
One reason that I had never turned on Downton Abbey was that a lot of things that I have seen that focus on the same time period, well… the focus on all of the things that women couldn’t do versus empowering the women in the cast. With the third movie, I felt that there was a touch of feminism to the project. I watched these women feel strong and cement their place.
“I think female empowerment is a subtle theme of the film. I really do. Edith finding her voice, Mary inheriting the house, Cora and Isobel having more agency, and Daisy taking ownership of the kitchen. All these characters find a voice that I think is very powerful,” Curtis said.
These are things that I never thought I would see in a period piece, nor did I think that it could be captured with authenticity in a movie set in the time period. But I was wrong, and I can say that I am wrong.
I walked away from the movie trilogy feeling empowered. Would I want to live in that time? No. I couldn’t handle having to wear a corset or be in all of that clothing. The costumes, just like the setting and the house, were definitely giving the main character energy in the movie.
Curtis said, “The look and the attention to detail are a big part of the whole experience, isn’t it? Full credit to all the department heads who are firing on all cylinders.”
And I loved that he gave credit to the people behind the scenes and was excited to talk about anyone involved in the movie. He had been so open to anything I asked.
He continued, “ I think the costumes have always been brilliant, but I think this is Anna’s greatest achievement. They are stunning. Sometimes when I re-watch the film, I’m blown away [chuckles].”
As my time with Curtis was coming to a close, I asked what he would remember most about this movie. He took a breath and said, “I think it’s just an amazing ensemble of actors inhabiting a brilliantly written ensemble of characters. It’s a love letter to family. We’ve aged with the characters, and I think that adds a wonderful poignancy to it all.”
A love letter to family indeed.
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale is available to rent and own on Digital and Blu-ray, and is streaming on Peacock.
