A Village Affair – DVD Review

By June L. Jun 17, 2009, 12:25 GMT

Based on the bestselling novel by Joanna Trollope Recently returned to England from New York City, vivacious heiress Clodagh Unwin befriends a couple new to her village. The husband is entranced by the young aristocrat, but Clodagh has eyes for someone else: his wife, Alice. Alice has a gilded life--beautiful children, a handsome husband, and a stately home. Secretly, she’s depressed after the birth of her third child and unhappy ...more

“An English village provides the severest test of ‘love thy neighbor’.”

Author Joanna Trollope is a descendant of Victorian author Anthony Trollope.  Not only did Ms. Trollope inherit her ancestor’s ability to tell a good story, she has a gift of characterization.  Whether in print or on the screen, each of her people becomes real to readers and to audiences.

As Anthony Trollope dealt with manners and customs of his time period, so Joanna Trollope tackles the problems of the modern age, but in microcosmic format, a village becomes the paradigm for the rest of the universe, as one person struggles with decisions that can mean personal growth, but with a price.

In A Village Affair, the audience watches Alice (Sophie Ward,) young, beautiful, talented, and a wife and mother, go through some exceptional experiences to discover just who she really is.  On the surface one would think her life to be perfect, with Martin (Nathaniel Parker) her handsome husband, well to do, and three adorable children, (one of whom is played by child Keira Knightley.) 

As they make their move to a new home, a lovely cottage in a small village, we begin to see cracks in Alice’s existence.  She has been sick, and depressed since the birth of her third child.  Once an artist, she can’t seem to get past a block in her creativity, and no amount of chastisement from her overbearing mother in law Cecily (Claire Bloom) can drive her back to the easel.

Everyone treats Alice as if she were slightly demented, and incapable of knowing what she wants or needs in life.  Even Martin who loves her cannot seem to muster enough strength to be truly supportive or encouraging.  Then they meet Clodagh Unwin (Kerry Fox,) daughter of the local squire.  Clodagh has returned from the United States, and is carefree and boisterous, where Alice is reserved and rather shy.  At first it seems that Clodagh has a romantic interest in Martin, but we soon see that she has actually fallen in love with Alice. 

Alice is taken with her sense of adventure and free-spirited approach to life, and most of all her sympathetic understanding of Alice’s confusions.  Clodagh tells Alice that she is a lesbian, and very soon they begin an affair.  The village suspects, and as the truth comes forward, Alice realizes strengths that she never knew she possessed.

What is most interesting in this story is that given time Alice realizes that the affair is wrong, NOT because it is a lesbian affair, but because she is a married woman with children, and this is not the best thing for her family.  It is Alice’s ethics and her developing strength of character that allow her to give up Clodagh in the interest of her family. 

It is rare to see a story where a character behaves unselfishly as the best action for everyone.  Clodagh is naturally upset, but it is Alice who becomes the stronger and begs her to help her end their relationship. 

The entire story is beautifully acted in tender, touching and painfully real scenes.  One cares about Alice, Martin and their children, but also for Clodagh and for the bemused and outraged citizens of the village.  Not for the kiddoes this is a very adult work.

A Village Affair is presented on single disc in fullscreen with a running time of 100 minutes.  Special features include cast filmographies and a biography of author Joanna Trollope.  Filmed in 1994, the DVD version looks good.  There is no rating, but parents be cautioned it is an adult story with adult situations and some brief nudity.  

A Village Affair is now available at Amazon and AmazonUK. Visit the DVD database for more information.