In 1971 I saw Sunset Song on Masterpiece Theatre and was mesmerized. I was 16 and could identify completely with Chris Guthrie and her dreams and disappointments. Everything about the 6 part series from the acting, narration, setting, characters was phenomenal but that haunting opening music was what I remembered and couldn't wait for each new episode. The series was rebroadcasted in 1976 and that was the last time I saw it until I found it on YouTube some 15 years ago by Lois Nettleton. What a treat to find something I had searched for many years.
The dramatization was authentic and the Scottish dialect made one feel they had a window into Scotland before the war. John Guthrie was a ruthless, discontented slave driver living his life through his bible. Jean, his wife, ignoring her hard life by throwing herself into her housework, can't seem to dodge pregnancies even when she puts her foot down. Will, Chris's brother, can only feel hatred for a man who hasn't ever a kind word or a civil thought for him.
Christine, an educated, obedient daughter is the main character who matures through 1 The Unfurrowed Field 2 Ploughing 3 Drilling 4 Seed Time 5 Harvest and 6 The Song. She knows little of life with all her schooling and is horrified to find her father is responsible for her mother's agony of childbirth when her brother informs her.
We see Chris lose her mother to suicide, become a workhorse and target for her father, watch her brother escape, become independent, fall in love with an unlikely suitor, marry, find herself with child and watch her husband become cynical and boorish during the war. She survives as she's stronger than we know.
It's quite a feast to watch this woman persevere with the help of her friends Long Rob, one of the most fascinating and gentle characters, Chae Strachan, and all the gossipy womenfolk trying to guide Chris Quine. A memorable A+ feast that made me sad when this journey ended.
The dramatization was authentic and the Scottish dialect made one feel they had a window into Scotland before the war. John Guthrie was a ruthless, discontented slave driver living his life through his bible. Jean, his wife, ignoring her hard life by throwing herself into her housework, can't seem to dodge pregnancies even when she puts her foot down. Will, Chris's brother, can only feel hatred for a man who hasn't ever a kind word or a civil thought for him.
Christine, an educated, obedient daughter is the main character who matures through 1 The Unfurrowed Field 2 Ploughing 3 Drilling 4 Seed Time 5 Harvest and 6 The Song. She knows little of life with all her schooling and is horrified to find her father is responsible for her mother's agony of childbirth when her brother informs her.
We see Chris lose her mother to suicide, become a workhorse and target for her father, watch her brother escape, become independent, fall in love with an unlikely suitor, marry, find herself with child and watch her husband become cynical and boorish during the war. She survives as she's stronger than we know.
It's quite a feast to watch this woman persevere with the help of her friends Long Rob, one of the most fascinating and gentle characters, Chae Strachan, and all the gossipy womenfolk trying to guide Chris Quine. A memorable A+ feast that made me sad when this journey ended.