The film “Downton Abbey” about George V and his wife visiting the Crawley family

Downton Abbey throws open its doors once more: a feature-length film based on the plot of the eponymous series has been released. The Crawley family, in full strength, awaits an exalted visit from the royal couple, and the vicissitudes of the plot are chiefly bound up with preparations for the arrival of George V and his consort: the repair of the boiler, the choice of menu, squabbles with the royal servants. Meanwhile a subplot unfolds on screen concerning a relative of the Dowager Countess, who serves as the Queen's lady's maid and has no burning desire to visit the nest of the Lords Grantham.

It must be said that the film is interesting rather as the conclusion of the series: the whole story is built on closing the arcs of long-familiar characters, and in essence it is one long final episode. Insanely beautiful, rich in vivid historical detail and touching, it brought a tear to the eye more than once. One has great respect for the screenwriters' skill in weaving social comment into a tale of aristocratic everyday life: the relations between rich and poor, the right to sexual self-identification, fathers and sons, the link between generations, the ability to find a compromise.