Fackham Hall – A Brisk, Witty Downton Abbey Spoof That's Delightfully Ephemeral.
Perhaps the feeling of uncertain days pervading: following a long period of quiet, the parody is enjoying a comeback. The past few months witnessed the re-emergence of this playful category, which, in its finest form, mocks the grandiosity of pompously earnest dramas with a torrent of exaggerated stereotypes, visual jokes, and ridiculously smart wordplay.
Unserious periods, so it goes, give rise to knowingly unserious, joke-dense, welcome light entertainment.
The Newest Entry in This Absurd Resurgence
The most recent of these absurd spoofs arrives as Fackham Hall, a takeoff on the British period drama that jabs at the easily mockable pretensions of wealthy English costume epics. The screenplay comes from British-Irish comedian Jimmy Carr and helmed by Jim O'Hanlon, the feature has plenty of source material to mine and exploits every bit of it.
Starting with a ludicrous start all the way to its outrageous finale, this amusing upper-class adventure fills every one of its runtime with gags and sketches ranging from the juvenile up to the authentically hilarious.
A Mimicry of Upstairs, Downstairs
In the vein of Downton, Fackham Hall presents a spoof of overly dignified rich people and very obsequious servants. The plot revolves around the hapless Lord Davenport (brought to life by an enjoyably affected Damian Lewis) and his book-averse wife, Lady Davenport (Katherine Waterston). After losing their male heirs in separate tragic accidents, their hopes now rest on finding matches for their offspring.
The younger daughter, Poppy (Emma Laird), has secured the aristocratic objective of an engagement to the right close relative, Archibald (an impeccably slimy Tom Felton). However once she withdraws, the onus shifts to the unmarried elder sister, Rose (Thomasin McKenzie), who is a "dried-up husk at 23 and and possesses radically progressive ideas about women's independence.
Its Laughs Lands Most Effectively
The film fares much better when sending up the oppressive expectations imposed on pre-war ladies – an area often mined for po-faced melodrama. The trope of proper, coveted ladylike behavior offers the most fertile material for mockery.
The plot, as befitting an intentionally ridiculous parody, is of lesser importance to the bits. The writer keeps them arriving at an amiably humorous clip. The film features a homicide, a bungled inquiry, and an illicit love affair between the plucky street urchin Eric Noone (Ben Radcliffe) and Rose.
Limitations and Pure Silliness
Everything is in the spirit of playful comedy, however, this approach comes with constraints. The dialed-up absurdity characteristic of the genre can wear over time, and the entertainment value on this particular variety runs out in the space between sketch and a full-length film.
After a while, audiences could long to retreat to the world of (at least a modicum of) logic. Yet, one must respect a sincere commitment to this type of comedy. If we're going to amuse ourselves relentlessly, we might as well see the funny side.
