The Epic Life Of A Doomed Poet
The Age
Saturday February 21, 2004
Justin Timberlake might think he's racy, what with having got Janet Jackson half-naked by the end of the Superbowl, but if you watch Byron (ABC, 8.30pm, this Sunday and next) you will get a taste of what racy really is. (And, as a total aside, why are Americans so much more outraged by an exposed breast than the fact that their President took them to war with Iraq under a false pretext? How many deaths is Janet's breast responsible for versus George Bush's policies?)
Lord Byron led no ordinary life, which means the television version is no ordinary period drama. Beautiful and bisexual, Byron also had a club foot, a deformity he saw as the devil's mark and used to explain away some of his more outrageous behaviour. Timberlake might have taken Britney Spears' virginity and felt our Kylie's bum, but Byron had sex with boys, half of English (female) society - most notably Lady Caroline Lamb, who dubbed him ``mad, bad and dangerous to know" - before falling in love with his half-sister, Augusta Leigh. Sure, he'd become an overnight success with his poem Childe Harolde's Pilgrimage but even that didn't save him from the scandal that erupted once his wife, Annabella Milbanke, accused him of sodomising her and Lady Caroline began spreading rumours about his relationship with his sister. Byron did what any self-respecting incestuous sodomiser would do, and headed for Italy.
Jonny Lee Miller (Trainspotting) is perfect as Byron - indeed, all the cast is good. Writer Nick Dear has also given much screen time to the one constant figure in Byron's life, manservant William Fletcher, beautifully underplayed by Philip Glenister. I was struck by how rare it is for a British drama to give priority to the hierarchical but heartfelt friendships that occurred between the classes. Fletcher's fate here is, in many ways, as moving as Byron's.
Vanessa Redgrave is terrific as Lady Melbourne, who is titillated by Byron until she understands how far he is capable of going. Natasha Little give a good performance in a confused role - Augusta Leigh's motivations and feelings never really make sense.
There are some criticisms. I would have liked more on Byron's European life, particularly his life in Italy, which he shared to some extent with the writers Percy and Mary Shelley. This series focuses on the English scandals of Byron's 20s rather than his more mature, though still chaotic, 30s.
He was dead by 36. If the conventions of British society sent him half-mad, it seems the conventions of British medicine killed him.
If you want to know more about those who lack impulse control, watch the terrific three-part ABC series Primal Instincts (Wednesday, 8.30pm) exploring in its first week the emotions, including anger, happiness and fear. How much free will do human beings really have? None, would be Byron's answer as he passionately pursued his fate.
© 2004 The Age
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