Breathless
DVD - 2014
Follows the lives of a group of doctors and nurses working in a London hospital, a world in which everything and everyone has their place. But underneath this veneer simmers a cauldron of lies and guilty secrets, driven by love, ambition and sex. Breathless opens in 1961, a time when Britain was on the brink of the '60s revolution, abortion is illegal and the contraceptive pill is only just available to married women.
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Publisher:
[United States] :, Distributed by PBS Distribution,, 2014.
Edition:
Original UK ed. ; Widescreen version.
Copyright Date:
©2013
ISBN:
9781627890564
Characteristics:
2 videodiscs (DVD) (approximately 4.5 hr.) :,sound, colour ;,4 3/4 in.
digital, video, stereo, rda
widescreen, rda
DVD, NTSC, rda
video file, DVD, region 1, rda
Additional Contributors:
Opinion
From the critics
Community Activity
Quotes
Add a QuoteAngela: I should be back to the ward, Mr. Powell. Life is an easy thing to lose.
Otto: And to waste.
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Margaret (to Richard): Do not make the mistake of thinking you can play with me, or her (Richard's wife Jean). We'll tear you to shreds.
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Angela: Thank you for what you've done. Seeing those babies being delivered...the way you helped Alice...I don't think I've ever felt more alive ...or happier. And then to be told they were ... Do you think life is always like this ... playing tricks on you?
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Ronald (only reference to 'breathe'): And in that bed, a woman lay, unconscious. I looked at her...and I could hardly breathe.
Comment
Add a CommentUneven acting and sometimes the story is ridiculous. However, there are moments of outstanding performances.
A soap opera, not story-telling. Boring privileged doctors whose moments of humanity are mostly overshadowed by their arrogance. This is set in 1961, so the women are either saintly nurses/wives or tragic figures, with only a couple stories offering a nuanced future.
It was interesting to see how the sixties era was recreated but it was kind of silly to see how all those heavy smokers had modern shining white sets of teeth, so the realism fell off there. In the video seen earlier from the library of the tv music show of the sixties a lot of rough teeth can be seen.
Rated 5/10. I have mixed feelings about these average set of episodes. None of the characters I cared about.
This was intended as an ongoing series, but was not renewed for a second one.
Where do I sign up for the Second season?
I just can't seem to get into this one.
I liked the program. It is a little slow, but tasteful, unlike a lot of the other programs on local TV or cable. Looking forward to the next season, hope it is much better and longer.
Set in British hospital system of the early '60's when doctors were considered untouchable, infallible gods, when women were mere objects of sex..'.What tangled webs we weave when first we practice to deceive' W. Scott. Well done as the era with dress, manners, restrictive societal rules. At some future date this could be labeled 'a period costume drama'. The mystery of it is fairly good & plausible. PBS series I'd gladly view again.
It's a "soapy" medical drama on the lives of a surgical team members and their families in the New London Hospital during the early 1960's; and overshadowing everything, there was a breathtaking decade old secret that was unraveling fast.
This is a self-contained mini-series (there are not several seasons-just these 5 or 6 hours). It's okay. You can figure out the "mystery" by about 1/2 way through. But it's very British: the mystery is solved and everyone goes back to their miserable lives.