Divorce, money, and songs in Downton Abbey's bittersweet farewell

It took Julian Fellowes six television seasons and three feature films to bring the story of the Crawley family and the people who work for them to a close. The universe Downton Abbey It ends fifteen years after the premiere of the first season, covering a period in British history from 1912 to 1930, the year in which this, for the moment, definitive outcome takes place. Written by Fellowes with his usual skill in interweaving the private lives of the protagonists with the social and cultural context that surrounds them – the portrayal of divorced women as pariahs of the British upper classes of the time is especially relevant in this last film – the film opens with the Crawley family attending London Bitter sweet Christmas Coward.

The title of the work seems a premonition of what will follow: a dizzying succession of events in which new characters such as Coward himself, irresistibly played by Arty Froushan, but also the mysterious American financier played by a charismatic Alessandro Nivola, live with the advisors of Downton (Paul Giamatti and Dominic West), resume their starring roles, and in which frivolity, scandal and comedy coexist with mourning, nostalgia and the melancholic acceptance of life changes. Both Fellowes and director Simon Curtis must be recognized for the respect with which they treat their characters: all are given a worthy closure. It is a decision, that of offering a closure to each of the numerous open narrative threads, which somewhat weighs down a more fragmented story than usual, but which can be comforting, and surely exciting, for fans of the series.