Desperate Romantics

Desperate Romantics follows the lives and loves of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, composed of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Holman Hunt and John Millais. They are also joined by Fred Walters, a shy reporter who writes about the young men. Each of the artists is after the most important thing – recognition and patronage from Ruskin and the art society.
Rossetti is obsessed with finding the perfect model, a muse. He finds luck in Lizzie Siddal, whom Fred finds in a hat shop. Both men fall in love with her, and rivalry begins. Hunt uses a prostitute from a tavern as a model, and then tries to make her a ‘lady’, so that he can marry her. And Millais finds himself falling in love with Ruskin’s young, unappreciated wife.
Together, these men are the rebels of art society. We watch them as they create their masterpieces, battle their demons, find and lose love and have both successes and failures.
It is well worth the watch, and you will find yourself looking up the art of the young men, and thinking about the stories behind the paintings.
Check to heere to see if this BBC Miniseries is in the library.

(Reviewed by Jasmine)