The British Empire in Colour

The British Empire has much to answer for. At the turn of the 20th century, Britain was a major world power with an enormous and powerful navy. In fact it was the super power of the day with an empire that touched almost every continent on the planet. Nowhere was the British Empire more influential and so destructive than it was in Africa and Asia, especially India. Even today, almost 60 years after India’s independence, the cultural influences are still very evident. So what happened you ask? Simple, the world grew tired of imperialism.

It was World War II that really triggered the final days of the British Empire as it was. After the war, Britain was obliged to make good its wartime promise that India would be granted independence in return for its commitment of men to the war effort. Before the war, India was all tiger hunting and tea for the ruling bourgeois and poverty, filth, or servitude for the millions of Indians. A country of countless millions ruled by a hundred thousand. Independence proved India was in as big a mess after British rule as it was during. The continuing decline into the later decades was as much a consequence of the thinking of many of the world’s nations as it was proof that empires never last.

This is just one aspect of Britain’s Empire that is studied and dissected in this three-episode DVD. It follows the gradual decline from the start of the 20th century to the current problems in Zimbabwe, and all in glorious colour. The series is narrated by Art Malik and includes spoken excerpts from diaries, journals, letters, newspapers, official documents and eyewitness accounts. There are also some quotes from prominent historical figures, or sound-alikes. It looks at the British Empire’s often-disastrous dealings in Kenya, Malaysia, Canada, Nigeria, Palestine, Rhodesia/Zimbabwe, Australia and Hong Kong, amongst others. It paints a less than glorious picture and should come with a warning for Anglophiles. Some of the practices of the aristocracy should leave a rather foul taste in the mouth of decent human beings. Of course, the British Empire is no orphan there.

History lovers and those who appreciate a good, well-paced and free flowing documentary will enjoy this. It is a fair and balanced account of the British Empire spread over three 49-minute episodes. Those looking for large doses of British backslapping and trumpet blowing might want to think twice, however. This DVD dishes up lashings of what much of the British Empire was, a stiff-mustachioed, gin-swilling collection of blue bloods with little or no willingness to acknowledge the awful truth that the Empire was, in many cases, nothing more than an invasion force.

There are only two constants in this offering, that is the full frame aspect ratio and that all of the footage is coloured. Everything else is a complete lottery, but it's entirely understandable. The age of much of the footage is getting on, and colour footage from as far back as pre-World War I is not going to be of high quality. It comes as a surprise that there is any colour footage from this time at all.

The images range from very soft to quite sharp and colours are at times quite glorious, while at other times they appear very pale indeed. Shadow detail varies, though it's generally quite good. There are little to no MPEG artefacts, but there are numerous and constant examples of every type of film artefact known to person-kind such as lines, scratches, dirt, jumps, grain, flickering, spots and flecks. It is quite pointless whining about them as before restoration much of this film would have been unviewable, and when regarded in that context it's all of rather good quality.

The only audio option is a more than adequate Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo that carries no sound from the actual footage on screen. The narration is very audible and balanced. The music is generally well suited to the image, and is reflective of the times. It has a good fidelity and some separation. There is no problem with audio-synch as all dialogue is narrated and all other sound is dubbed in and not from the original source.

For a DVD that already has 147 minutes of feature there is a generous helping of extras.

'Making of' Documentary: This is the most appealing extra and at just under 30 minutes is a good look at the effort required to bring this idea to fruition. It includes input from key crewmembers and a great deal of footage not included in the three episodes that make up the feature. It also includes a good look at the restoration process and a glimpse at the actual machinery required to restore film amongst other interesting mini-chapters.

Letters and Diaries: Basically, this is a collection of six very short narrated diary extracts each accompanied by visuals. I suspect these were at one stage destined for inclusion in the feature.

Timeline: This is a neatly packaged extra that offers important events in a timeline, many accompanied by footage from the feature that can be selected for added impact.

Maps: An unusual extra included is map of the world divided into different eras, and each can be selected showing which part of the continent was under British rule at the time.

WWII Posters: As the name suggests, this is a collection of five promotional/propaganda style posters from World War II highlighting the need to fight as an empire.

Biographies: Eight significant historical figures are featured in these text-based biographies that have selectable links to the relevant scene from the feature.

Stills Gallery: Yes, the obligatory gallery is included and it's a self-navigating affair containing surprisingly few shots.

There are some positive elements in the legacy that was the British Empire, but there is far more disaster. It is not really possible to simply point a finger at Britain and leave it at that, for times and circumstances contributed largely to the downfall of one of the greatest empires the world has known, and certainly the greatest empire of the 20th century. This DVD serves as a wonderful history lesson, and unmasks some less than savoury home truths. Thoroughly recommended.