What can I say except that I am in awe of this most brilliant of documentaries that it has been my privilege to have seen? "Blood Ties" or as it was presented by BRAVO as "The Family Fiennes" was an exquisite confection skirting on the edges of perfection. It was a presentation calculated to make the viewer think and learn about the subject at hand, without making said subject "cut and dried."
Jini Fiennes was portrayed, not as a person without faults, but as one who had experienced all the trials and tribulations associated with coming from a dysfunctional family, and yet rising above the situation to become a loving and caring mother and wife.
From the opening strains of Debussy's "Ballade" to the echoes of Magnus Fiennes haunting strains of impressionistic tones and nuances, the audience was compelled and thrust forth ever so gently into the world of Jennifer Lash. While her upbringing was harsh and at times, cruel, the fierce determination that came from within her to rise above her circumstances portrayed her as a person who would not be held back and allowed to sink even deeper into depression and despair.
That it was her family that chose to make this production what it was is all the more telling. To hear her husband, Mark, and her children, Ralph, Martha, Magnus, Sophie, Jake and Joe, along with foster child, Michael, speak of Jini's ups and downs, was all the more revealing, and I for one was delighted to NOT have to listen to a "Mommie Dearest" parade of "oh, how my mother warped my perspective on things!" Jini was not characterized as perfect in all respects, but rather as a mother who had her faults and ran a household not unlike ones that many of us have grown up in.
Rather, she was a woman struggling with the demands that motherhood made on her, and that she, in her infinite wisdom, chose to make her own. Her perseverance and dedication are amply presented.
It is so refreshing to be able to see grown children speaking with praise for a parent that shaped and molded them, and to hear their own words and the conviction with which they spoke those words is all the more telling.
If you have not had the privilege of seeing this
documentary, it is with the utmost of enthusiasm that I heartily give my
endorsement to this production. It is well worth the time spent and
you, the viewer, will walk away with the knowledge that comes with witnessing
human perseverance rise to the occasion.
---------------Mary F. Sibley
10 May 1999