Call the Midwife - TV Series Review

Call the Midwife is based in the raw positive East End of London in the late fifties where drama ensues from the working midwives and nun who reside in Nonnatus House convent. This series is based on the real life experiences described in Jennifer Worth’s memoirs and captures young midwife Jenny journey from innocence to experience living in raw, colourful London East End. Here, where Jenny has been struggling to survive in a desperately crowded and squalid home, she finds compassion, and understanding as well as people’s determination to live and fight for what they believe in. While explaining accurate details of birth processes as well as other complications, it wonderfully depicts social barriers of that period, combined with glimpses of personal lives of the midwives.

In essence, Call the Midwife is the reflection of victory against all odds. Themes of poverty, cultural sands shifting, medical progression and throw a glace at lives of modern feminism run through it, creating a realistic portrayal of Britain post the Second World War. The feelings in the series are equally compassionate and sincere as the historical and political context of the period. The tone is one that is emotionally supportive and which depicts the continuous cycle of life as seen by its birthers. This combination of historical context and cheery, person-oriented production makes for a very watchable series.

The acting is excellent all around, and Vanessa Redgrave’s voiceover makes for a super reflective bonus. Jenny Agutter, Judy Parfitt and Laura Main give credible and moving performances evoking a sense of friendship and family that is both realistic and compelling. Being multi-dimensional characters, they are supplied well-developed arcs, which combination working crises and private victories, realistic portrayals of somebody personalities.

Despite being headed by directors Syd Macartney, David O’Neil, and Juliet May, Call the Midwife is representative of united directing. The directors combine dramatis personae and powerful storylines which address social issues and put a focus on the history of the characters. The combination of different directors guarantees continuous and coherent setting and the combination of dramaticnja and songs of Call the Midwife corresponds to the uplifting of characters’ adventures in terms of musical motifs and the usage of peculiar musical inspirations of that period. It amplifies the emotional impact of major episodes and supplies undertone to certain scenes that, once seen, leave the viewer with something to ponder on as each episode ends.

The use of cinematography in the show is impressive to the level that it painted a busy life coupled with strained living within the suburbs of East London. The depiction takes the story even a step further, the colours being rather dull, but still conveying the beauty of the post war era and the optimistic note that the future is coming.

The visual aspects of the work serve as a beautiful portrayal of post-war East London, the costumes and the setting of the movie are very accurate for the period and feel genuine. The renewal of the show’s environment is vital since it can turn the setting into a series character full of life and reflecting the time period.

In show like Call the Midwife, special effects are relatively modest and can be less dependent on compute-generated imagery that brings realism to the depiction of birth and various operations. This approach makes the series more believable and thus engaging to the audience.

Through holding sequences, the series does not lose monotony and preserves the subject’s emotional rhythm. The editors manage to play with both the longevity of scenes and the speed up of their progress, so nobody can get bored endlessly but, at the same time, the story advances quite nicely and nothing seems to escape viewer’s attention. Such consistent pacing results in a fairly good show; there is room for contemplation interspersed with moments of suspense.

The language used is historical in the language and appropriately captures the feelings of the characters facilitating strong bonding. It is a very British show, which recreates the British culture and the socio-lingual variety of speech of that period – the script feels authentic, it feels real.

A word of criticism that can be said about Call the Midwife is that the narrative tropes with melodramatic clichés at times. This does not dampen the storyline much but using moderate emotions could amplify the experiences as well. Some of the narratives have a routine feel to them, but they are mitigated by character development and historical themes.

Overall, watching Call the Midwife has an uplifting and energizing touch on the psyche and impresses itself upon one’s heart in a way. An added bonus to this kind of history and heart – the series fosters a positive message about people who may be ordinary but whose moment in history was extraordinary. While issues such as motherhood, Tenaciousness, and neighbourliness are themes, the gentle handling of these concepts forms a colorful picture of life thus adding value to each frame for all audience at each view. ‘Call the Midwife’ really is a loving and beautiful tribute to a bygone era and a rich and layered piece of storytelling that delivers on the emotional punch as well as the historical.