Pick of the Day: “A Very British Scandal”
From “I, Tonya” to “Framing Britney Spears,” the past few years have seen no shortage of films, docs, and TV seeking to vindicate — or at least humanize — women who were vilified in the media and court of...
Kass
From “I, Tonya” to “Framing Britney Spears,” the past few years have seen no shortage of films, docs, and TV seeking to vindicate — or at least humanize — women who were vilified in the media and court of public opinion in the ’90s and early 2000s. However, there haven’t been as many stories about their, for lack of a better word, predecessors. As we all know, publicly shaming a woman for her sexuality, ambition, or rejection of norms didn’t begin or end in the ’90s — that’s been going on for time immemorial. Look no further than the new BBC/Prime Video miniseries “A Very British Scandal”: the follow-up installment to “A Very English Scandal,” the show revisits the much-scrutinized 1963 divorce of Margaret Campbell, Duchess of Argyll (Claire Foy), and Ian Campbell, Duke of Argyll (Paul Bettany).
For context, the Duke sought a divorce on the grounds of his wife’s adultery. His “proof” included diaries that supposedly documented her trysts in code, love letters, and Polaroid photographs of her performing oral sex on an unidentified man — all of which he stole from her locked desk. Technically, the case’s details, with the exception of the judgment, were off-limits to the press. But word of the Duchess’ so-called misdeeds managed to get out and she was excoriated in the papers and abandoned by her friends. As you can imagine, the situation was not helped by the judge’s conclusion that the Duchess “was a completely promiscuous woman whose sexual appetite could only be satisfied with a number of men” and “her attitude to the sanctity of marriage was what moderns would call ‘enlightened’ but which in plain language was wholly immoral.” Of course, since that slut-shaming tirade was delivered under the guise of his legal judgement, it was officially sanctioned for press coverage.
The court case itself only really takes up the last 20 minutes or so of “A Very British Scandal’s” three hours. The rest of the series, from creator-writer Sarah Phelps (“The Pale Horse”) and director Anne Sewitsky (“Sonja: The White Swan”), is more concerned with the Campbells’ volatile relationship and Margaret’s life as a somewhat unconventional woman living in extremely conventional times. A glamorous socialite, Margaret enjoys drinking, dancing, and sex — and isn’t embarrassed to say so. She’s on the brink of divorcing her first husband when she meets Ian on a train. They spar flirtatiously and end up spending a weekend in Scotland together. Before long, she’s his mistress and eventually his third wife. She offers to fund the renovation of the castle he inherited with his dukedom as well as huge undertaking to find and retrieve a sunken ship’s treasure (yes, really).
From the beginning, the Campbells have a turbulent marriage: Ian is at turns distant and belittling, both say hateful things to one another, neither is faithful nor bothers to keep it a secret, Ian struggles with alcohol and drug addiction, and Margaret lies and manipulates. Yet, at least as depicted in the miniseries, there is a real frisson to their connection. They’re amused by their mutual cruelty, even occasionally turned on by it. Beyond the mind games and conflict, though, both Margaret and Ian believe their spouse is their true match, in every sense of the word.
But it’s not enough: the marriage eventually becomes unsalvageable and the Campbells do battle in the courts and the tabloids. Even though we all know (or can Google) where the story is headed, the real strength of “A Very British Scandal” is its portrayal of the woman at the center of it all. Margaret is far from perfect — in fact, she does something objectively awful in the first episode that reverberates throughout the rest of the show. Even so, she doesn’t deserve to be pilloried; neither did the real-life Duchess. Played by Foy (who exec produces with Phelps and Sewitsky) with equal parts flintiness and mischievousness, the Margaret of “A Very British Scandal” is punished for not being the wife society thought she should be. Her story takes place nearly 60 years ago, and unfortunately feels as resonant as ever.
“A Very British Scandal” is now available on Prime Video.
