A Look at Fackham Hall – A Rapid-Fire, Witty Downton Abbey Spoof That's Refreshingly Throwaway.
Perhaps the sense of uncertain days in the air: following a long period of quiet, the comedic send-up is making a resurgence. The recent season observed the revival of this lighthearted genre, which, when done well, mocks the grandiosity of overly serious genres with a torrent of pitched clichés, visual jokes, and ridiculously smart wordplay.
Playful eras, so it goes, create an appetite for knowingly unserious, laugh-filled, welcome light fun.
The Latest Addition in This Goofy Wave
The latest of these absurd spoofs arrives as Fackham Hall, a parody of Downton Abbey that needles the highly satirizable pretensions of wealthy English costume epics. Penned in part by stand-up performer Jimmy Carr and overseen by Jim O'Hanlon, the feature finds ample of material to work with and wastes none of it.
From a absurd opening to a ludicrous finish, this entertaining aristocratic caper fills all of its hour and a half with puns and routines that vary from the childish to the authentically hilarious.
A Pastiche of Aristocrats and Servants
Much like Downton, Fackham Hall offers a spoof of very self-important aristocrats and excessively servile staff. The plot centers on the hapless Lord Davenport (played by an enjoyably affected Damian Lewis) and his literature-hating wife, Lady Davenport (Katherine Waterston). Having lost their children in various tragic accidents, their plans fall upon marrying off their daughters.
The junior daughter, Poppy (Emma Laird), has achieved the dynastic aim of an engagement to the right kinsman, Archibald (an impeccably slimy Tom Felton). Yet after she pulls out, the burden shifts to the unattached elder sister, Rose (Thomasin McKenzie), described as an old maid already and and holds unladylike ideas about women's independence.
The Film's Comedy Lands Most Effectively
The parody achieves greater effect when sending up the suffocating norms placed on Edwardian-era women – a subject typically treated for earnest storytelling. The archetype of idealized ladylike behavior provides the best punching bags.
The plot, as befitting a purposefully absurd spoof, is of lesser importance to the jokes. The writer keeps them maintaining a consistently comedic clip. The film features a homicide, a bungled inquiry, and an illicit love affair featuring the charming street urchin Eric Noone (Ben Radcliffe) and Rose.
The Constraints of Pure Silliness
It's all in the spirit of playful comedy, but that very quality comes with constraints. The dialed-up absurdity of a spoof may tire over time, and the comic fuel for this specific type diminishes at the intersection of a skit and a full-length film.
After a while, audiences could long to return to a realm of (at least a modicum of) reason. Nevertheless, it's necessary to admire a wholehearted devotion to the craft. If we're going to amuse ourselves unto oblivion, it's preferable to find the humor in it.
