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How do you write a rave review without raving? How do you engrave the Lord's Prayer on the head of a pin with a set of false teeth?
Readers who sniff suspiciously at the prospect of bulk enthusiasm and bristle at words like beaut, fabbo, glorious or (worse) masterpiece and compelling, might find it prudent to move straight to the shipping notices.
The ABC, as you are aware, has been flogging Brides Of Christ with saturation teasers sufficient to putrefy the beak of Pavlov's budgie.
But you can't blame them.
Brides Of Christ is Triple A entertainment with a capital E - as strong, as robust and as absorbing as anything you could hope to see. The fact that it is locally made sharpens the enjoyment of it, forcing you to wonder why, when stuff of this calibre emerges, we don't see more of it.
Defining what makes it so agreeable isn't simply a matter of saying: everything. Certainly, it helps explain why Mother Theresa consistently beats Madonna in opinion polls seeking the world's most admired woman. Every element - the acting, the casting, the writing, music, photography and editing - contributes to a lustrous dramatic fusion. Humour, humanity and emotion are judiciously blended to tell, in six one-hour chapters, the story of a tumultuous decade. We have been here before, in various mini-series, assaying the wave of emergent maturity which swept Australia during the '60s. The short but incandescent era characterised by The Permissive Society. But never have we been privy to the passage of these events or their repercussions as they reverberated within the cloistered confines of the Catholic education system.
The series - or anthology - begins with the decision by Diane Markham (Josephine Byrnes), a bright and adventurous young woman, to break her engagement on the eve of her wedding and enter a convent. Driven not by disappointment, fear or blind faith, Diane is rather called by the getting of wisdom and a sense of fulfilment beyond that offered in the obvious suburban rituals she has forsaken.
Initiation into the postulant's life isn't smooth. Her mercurial intellect repeatedly challenges doctrine set in stone, the force of her enthusiasm impacting on the immovable object. The consequent flux requires her to rely more on faith and obedience to carry her across chasms of doubt. It's not hard to equate her role with that of an idealistic young cop obliged to uphold the vagaries of laws he didn't make and doesn't fully subscribe to, yet which cannot function without his enforcement. In essence, Diane is the individual against the system, committed to sustaining it without sacrificing her individuality - like Mayo in An Officer And A Gentleman - but, dramatically, a thousand times more acceptable.
Her destiny is guided by the convent's Mother Superior, Mother Ambrose -another eloquent and luminous portrayal by the inestimable Sandy Gore. Here is a characterisation of truth and wisdom, tact and contradiction. A beatific strength radiates from Mother Ambrose. She will warm your heart and break it, too.
If Mother Ambrose is the backbone of the series, its essence is the clarity with which the writers, Sue Smith and John Alsop, assay change and maturity. They deal in wisdom and perception - in loyalty and commitment - elements that buoy the human spirit and sustain faith.
Brenda Fricker, as the martinet, Agnes, offers a firm centre around which the principal themes and conflicts swirl.
The touch of director Ken Cameron is sure throughout, giving all the components due rein. Genuine warmth and tenderness illuminate the characters. Situations become achingly credible as big ideas confront small lives in the guise of stark realities. Each of the separate but interlocking stories sparkles with sensitivity and small triumphs. So simple on paper, on the screen, exultant, magnificent television, lovingly steered by the executive producer, Penny Chapman, and the producer, Sue Masters.
Brides Of Christ is the most formidable dramatic endeavour our often maligned industry has mounted in ages. Easily the year's best. The ABC's creative collaborations with Roadshow Coote & Carroll refute some of the arguments about outside co-productions. There'll be something seriously amiss if this one isn't showered with laurels.
Edge Of Darkness, House of Cards, Brides Of Christ ... Exceptional television.
© The Sydney Morning Herald
