Crawley fans, rejoice! Whereas Downton Abbey, A New Era, the second feature film from its hit saga, will hit theaters in the spring, its creator and screenwriter Julian Fellowes returns to the small screen with another costume drama. After the portrait of the British aristocracy at the beginning of the 20th century, the Oscar-winning author of Gosford Park is interested in The Gilded AgeHBO series available in US + 24 this Tuesday in France on OCS, to the wealthy industrialists of the “golden period”, an era of prosperity and reconstruction which followed the Civil War from 1865 to 1901.
When writing Downton Abbey, Julian Fellowes studied the “princess dollars”, those wealthy American heiresses of the “golden period” like Cora (Elizabeth McGovern) whom European aristocrats like Lord Robert Grantham (Hugh Bonneville) married in order to bail out their declining fortunes. This led the screenwriter to focus on American dynastic families like the Vanderbilts, Astors and Goulds, and the financial boom that followed the Civil War.
Yes The Gilded Age is not, as some have assumed, a prequel to Downton Abbeyit is impossible not to see the relationship between the two works.
At the heart of New York’s elite
The plot of The Gilded Age begins in 1882 when Marian Brook (Louisa Jacobson, one of the daughters of Meryl Streep who makes her screen debut here) is forced to leave her native Pennsylvania after the death of her father who left her penniless.
She moved to New York where her wealthy aunts Agnes van Rhijn (Christine Baranski, who plays Diane Lockhart in The Good Wife and The Good Fight) and Ada Brook (Cynthia Nixon, who plays Miranda Hobbes in Sex and the City and And Just Like That). At the train station, she befriends Peggy Scott (Denée Benton, Eliza Hamilton in the Broadway production, hamilton), an aspiring African-American writer.
The arrival of the two young women in the life of the two matriarchs coincides with the installation of new neighbors in the imposing mansion opposite that the two aunts do not see at all with a good eye, that of the Russel family. . Husband, George Russell (Morgan Spector, seen in The Plot Against America and Homeland) amassed an immense fortune through the railroad industry.
His wife, the ambitious Bertha (Carrie Coon, Nora Durst in The Leftovers), is determined to integrate into good New York society. This character is inspired by Alva Vanderbilt, the wife of William Kissam Vanderbilt, grandson of Cornelius, the founder of the eponymous dynasty. Like her, Bertha Russell has to face Caroline Schermerhorn Astor (Donna Murphy), who manages the “400” club bringing together the Big Apple’s elite.
like the movie Downton Abbeywhich intertwined the fictional Crawley family with a real historical event, a visit to Wentworth Woodhouse in Yorkshire by King George and Queen Mary in 1912, Julian Fellowes mixes fictional characters and real tycoons of the “golden period”.
At the heart of a social conflict
Reluctantly, Marian finds herself in the middle of a social conflict, which opposes the “Old Money”, the heirs of the rich families of the old guard who have dominated American high society since before the American Revolution, to that of the “New Money”, the new rich, entrepreneurs who have built their fortunes recently on the coal, copper or railroad industries.
“You are my niece and you belong to old New York”, warns her aunt Agnes van Rhijn, who shares the sense of the sharp repartee of Lady Violet Crawley, while Ada Brook is endowed with the benevolence of Isabelle Grey.
Agnes is “a wonderful snob, but who wouldn’t want to play a snob written by Julian Fellowes?” “, laughs Christine Baranski in the columns of the New York Times. “She is appalled by the change in the city, because people are spending crazy amounts of money to impress others,” she explains to What to watch.
Respect for etiquette
The Gilded Age follows Marian’s discovery of the codes of New York high society just like Downton Abbey followed the entry into the world of the three daughters Mary, Edith and Sybil into the British aristocratic world. The cast read novels by Edith Wharton and Henry James before filming, and received lessons in etiquette, diction and customs of the “golden period”.
“The culture of business cards was a complex and delicate dance”, laughs Louisa Jacobson in the New York Times. “It was like Instagram,” she added. We quickly understand that she is not insensitive to the charm of Larry, the Russell’s son (Harry Richardson, the star of Poldark), nor that of his lawyer Tom Raikes (Thomas Cocquerel, seen in The 100).
“Marian knows her likely destiny will be to marry as best she can, but she wants more. She is restrained by the rules of her time, but there is a modern edge to her. She wants to do something with her life, ”sums up Louisa Jacobson at What to watch. Will Marian follow the rules of her rank or will she learn to work around them?
“It’s the biggest building I’ve ever done”
As in Downton Abbeythe ballet of the servants, behind the scenes, is always skilfully staged. The Gilded Age Like its predecessor, it benefits from an impeccable production, made up of sumptuous costumes, extravagant dresses and hats, and impressive sets. From neat interiors to the reconstruction of a part of Manhattan in the 19th century: “It’s the biggest construction I’ve ever done”, rejoices Bob Shaw, the chief decorator, who worked on The Sopranos and Boardwalk Empire in the New York Times.
With the erudite and sharp dialogues of Julian Fellowes and its ceremonial value inherited from Downton Abbeyits stunning cast and its own heady mix of opulence, romance and stabbing, The Gilded Age may well be a new gold mine for the creator!