It could be the sense of end times pervading: subsequent to a lengthy span of inactivity, the spoof is making a comeback. The recent season witnessed the revival of this lighthearted genre, which, when done well, mocks the pretensions of overly serious genres with a barrage of pitched clichés, sight gags, and dumb-brilliant double entendres.
Playful periods, apparently, create an appetite for knowingly unserious, joke-dense, refreshingly shallow amusement.
The Latest Addition in This Goofy Resurgence
The most recent of these goofy parodies is Fackham Hall, a takeoff on the British period drama that needles the highly satirizable pretensions of opulent English costume epics. The screenplay comes from stand-up performer Jimmy Carr and overseen by Jim O'Hanlon, the movie has a wealth of material to mine and exploits every bit of it.
From a ridiculous beginning to a preposterous conclusion, this amusing aristocratic caper fills every one of its runtime with gags and sketches ranging from the childish to the genuinely funny.
A Send-Up of The Gentry and Staff
Much like Downton, Fackham Hall delivers a spoof of overly dignified the nobility and very obsequious servants. The narrative centers on the feckless Lord Davenport (played by a delightfully mannered Damian Lewis) and his anti-reading wife, Lady Davenport (Katherine Waterston). Following the loss of their four sons in separate calamitous events, their aspirations fall upon finding matches for their daughters.
The younger daughter, Poppy (Emma Laird), has accomplished the dynastic aim of betrothal to the right kinsman, Archibald (a wonderfully unctuous Tom Felton). However when she pulls out, the pressure falls upon the single elder sister, Rose (Thomasin McKenzie), considered a spinster at 23 and and possesses dangerously modern notions concerning women's independence.
Where the Comedy Works Best
The film is significantly more successful when satirizing the stifling social constraints imposed on Edwardian-era ladies – an area frequently explored for po-faced melodrama. The archetype of proper, coveted ladylike behavior offers the richest comic targets.
The plot, as one would expect from a deliberately silly parody, is secondary to the jokes. The writer delivers them coming at an amiably humorous clip. Included is a homicide, an incompetent investigation, and a star-crossed attraction between the charming pickpocket Eric Noone (Ben Radcliffe) and Rose.
A Note on Pure Silliness
It's all in the spirit of playful comedy, but that very quality imposes restrictions. The heightened silliness inherent to parody may tire over time, and the entertainment value for this specific type runs out in the space between sketch and feature.
After a while, audiences could long to go back to stories with (at least a modicum of) logic. Yet, it's necessary to applaud a wholehearted devotion to the craft. Given that we are to distract ourselves unto oblivion, let's at least see the funny side.
