Cranford [DVD] [2007]

Product Details

• Actors: Judi Dench, Philip Glenister, Francesca Annis, Michael Gambon, Lesley Manville
• Directors: Simon Curtis
• Format: PAL, Colour, Dolby
• Language English
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 16:9 - 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Classification: PG
• Studio: 2 Entertain Video
• DVD Release Date: 11 Feb 2008
• Run Time: 275 minutes
  

By : Judi Dench (Actor), Philip Glenister (Actor), Simon Curtis (Director)|Rated:Parental Guidance|Format: DVD
Price : £4.47

Customer Reviews

The thing I love about Cranford is that it gives you a valuable insight into the lives of a whole cross section of society from the struggling working class to the aristocracy and everything inbetween. This is very rare as most period dramas would tend to focus on just one main family or storyline, but here you have various characters, families and friends from all walks of life and each of them fascinating in their own way. The scenes and costumes are raw and realistic, the acting outstanding, transporting you into their lives and situations. It is period drama in the best sense of the word as there is a fair dose of tragedy and sadness. This however, is well balanced by some very humorous portrayals and scenarios, as well as some wonderful romances and the joy of life in the Cranford community! All in all, a very worthwhile purchase with a magnificent cast and brilliant depiction of how life used to be in England!

we avoided watching Cranford at first - thought it would just be another of those irritating adaptations which are either one long cliche and/or look like a Laura Ashley catalogue come to life. The last thing we expected was to watch all five episodes back-to-back - and then to wish there were more!
We would agree with everything M Edwards said in his review: wonderful acting (Julia McKenzie nearly had me sobbing in the last episode), interesting insights into life in the early 1840's, a real cross-section of society into whose lives you gazed (servants were not just 'seen but not heard' as in so many period dramas but allowed lives of their own), real comic moments, an excellent balance of the sad/tragic v happy/comic - all of which helped you to see the characters as real people you could meet today as opposed to fictitious individuals frozen in time.
We loved the way 'retail therapy' was as alive and well in 1843 as it is today, how the worries about the coming of the railway echoes our concerns about how use of the Internet and/or immigration will change our society ... you could really identify with the characters' reaction to the events of their day (which, thankfully, were to the foreground in this production and not just a background rumble as they so often are). And boy did this production make you give thanks for pain killers of all descriptions! And for electric light, running water, contact lenses, antiseptics ...
Cranford reminds us that people are much the same down the ages - we just worry about different things. We may not celebrate May Day as the Cranfordites did - and may therefore not come together as communities as they did - but most of us still feel for neighbours when they suffer grief or misfortune ... and smile when we see a wedding or hear that a baby is expected. We want life to go on. We know that it won't go on unchanged but we also know, like the villagers of Cranford knew, that it will be all the easier to accept the change if we pull together.

 

Cranford [DVD] [2007]