"Downton Abbey. The Grand Finale": A passing of the baton between the generations of Crawleys

THE OPINION OF THE “WORLD” – WHY NOT

The third film continuing the story of the Downton Abbey series (2010-2015) is shaping up to be the final installment in the British saga, depicting the passing of the baton between generations. However, this is doubtful. We are certainly in 1930, long after 1912 and the sinking of the Titanic , which was the opening of the series created by Julian Fellowes (who still wrote the script and produced it).

But the English Crawley dynasty is definitely struggling to make the transition from Victorian aristocracy to the tumult of the ^20th century. Still the same worries about inheritance, an overly expensive lifestyle (especially since it's the aftermath of the 1929 crash), and social and moral constraints, particularly for women: Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) pays the price here because of her recent divorce.

Always the same parallel editing between the spaces and destinies of the nobles and their servants – and a mutual respect, a benign complicity, which we had already been able to regret from the beginning of the series, which seemed to transmute, on the relationship between masters and servants, the cruel Rules of the Game (1939), by Jean Renoir, into a flirtatious game of croquet. Still, all the same, despite useless shots edited into Chantilly thanks to digital technology, an impeccable artistic direction which will delight lovers of tuxedos, draped dresses, silverware and horse racing.

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