Desperate Romantics

Based on the titular nonfiction book by Franny Moyle on the Pre-Raphaelite painters, this lusty 2009 six-episode BBC-aired series follows the public antics and private affairs of Dante Gabriel Rosetti (Aidan Turner), John Millais (Samuel Barnett), and William Holman Hunt (Rafe Spall), who defied the art establishment of mid-19th-century London, reveling in a culture of taverns and trollops—a milieu in which artists are revered and models are celebrities. Tom Hollander costars as preeminent critic John Ruskin, who champions their work as “capturing the extraordinary beauty of the every day,” while privately manipulating matters for his own (not always exalted) ends. Sam Crane plays the fictional Fred Walters, a journalist intoxicated by the trio's revolutionary ideals, who becomes their unofficial press agent and serves as narrator and commentator. Antics take precedence over art, and the contradictions and ironies of character are more sideshow than psychological study; but the setting is interesting, and the lively personalities and soap opera complications make the show addictive viewing, even if it is more titillating than informative. DVD extras include the background featurette “Desperate Romantics: A Portrait” (comparing the real-life history to the fictionalized story), and an interview with executive producer Moyle. A strong optional purchase. (S. Axmaker)