Jim Broadbent wrote and starred in this short film directed by none other than Mike Leigh. As a member of the landed gentry, the 23rd Earl of Leete has a duty to maintain and expand his lands. Shot in the style and manner of a BBC documentary, Broadbent tells his family history to the crew, who slowly come to realise - as do we - that things are not what they seem.
There's something distinctly Churchillian about Jim Broadbent's rather engaging performance as the 23rd Earl of Leete. His rather grand exposé of their country estate (in front of an instantly recognisable Highcere) begins with the traditional "held in trust" kind of monologue, then the peer gradual
... ly drifts into a bit of familial character assassination that depicts his mother as a cough-medicine addict, his father as a rather stupid bully, and his elder brother - and the heir apparent - as a raging homosexual (even if he was 11 years old!). Anyway, with the estate in dire straits and his brother unlike to procreate, this seven year old Lord decides to dispose of his brother. Pigeon and rabbit shooting was a popular family pastime, so we now get a fairly graphic and detailed description of just what happened (think "Kind Hearts and Coronets") before continuing, seamlessly, with chat about the growth of the estate after the reformation under the 6th Earl and then a brief conversation with one of his tractor driving serfs! More family tragedies ensue and the narration becomes even more darkly humoured as we venture into his own WWII not so conscientious objections and his, qualified, support for the organisational genius that was Hitler! How to expand the estate? Well that's where marriage comes in. No sentiment, just acreage and knowing which fork to use! Finally, and this is where it comes off the rails a bit, he falls in love with a stable lass and decides that his homicidal tendencies needed honing again. Broadband's efforts and his pithy writing marries the pompous and the comedic excellently here, and his proud historical speechifying is expertly contrasted by his rants and his sense of privilege. He kept the bastards out! A must see, this.
