The English2022

It’s rare to see a variation on the theme achieve the depth and poignance of The English. ... The story of Cornelia and Eli is a different kind of lie; it’s a fiction, and one whose sentimentality in later installments of the six-episode series barely undermines its beauty as a counter-narrative. Violent, macabre, and in many ways tragic, The English doesn’t deny what we know about what really happened when cultures collided on the frontier. Instead, it finds beauty in imagining how different people in the same situation, driven by purer motives and united by trust, might have built something better.

The English movie is a true Western - sweeping, beautiful landscape, a reminder of Cinema Scope type of cinematography greatness! Great pacing - efficient - not a wasteful wandering minute. Always advancing. Powerful dialogue. Melancholy in moments like the West was. Majestic. Violent. Kind. Tender. Hard. Heartbreaking. Tense. Climactic. Unfair. Cool. Calm. Collected. Quiet. Loud.

“The English” outlines at least one theory: Bloodshed is the American way, and so is believing we can put it behind us. Blick’s explanation is nestled somewhere within the connection between its graceful aesthetics and ruthless inclinations, its sweeping romance and star-crossed lovers, its white flags and red ones.