Dandyland is buzzing with cynicism over the imminent release of the big-screen version of “Brideshead Revisited,” which opens August 1 in select U.S. theaters.

The production has stirred controversy since its announcement. For starters, why bother? The 1981 Granada TV Production featuring Jeremy Irons and Anthony Andrews — plus bit players like Sir Lawrence Olivier as Papa Marchmain and Sir John Gielgud as Pater Ryder — has captivated audiences with its elegiac splendor and 11½-hour exposition of the novel.

The new adaptation immediately hit snags. The original director and cast, including Jude Law, abandoned the project for various reasons. Production finally started after a delay of nearly three years.

Then horrible rumors leaked out about what was being done to Waugh’s novel.

The Independent summarized the “remarkable differences” between the novel and new version. These include an apparently incestuous relationship between Sebastian and Julia which Charles ultimately joins; Lady Marchmain’s encouragement of Julia’s marriage to Rex, a Protestant; an innuendo that Lord Marchmain buggers his children (at least the good looking ones); and the intensification of Charles and Sebastian’s relationship from mildly homoerotic to outright homosexual.

And most troubling, there have been conflicting reports of whether Aloysius, Sebastian’s teddy bear, wound up on the cutting room floor or merely peed on it.

These details reflect the larger controversy over what “Brideshead” is actually about. Waugh always stoutly maintained that it is about God, the Roman Catholic religion and redemptive grace. Novelist John Mortimer, whose script for the TV version was scrapped, thought it was about God, homosexuality, and Aloysius.

Critics generally opine that it’s about the erosion of the aristocracy and the vulgarity of the modern world. Judging from the rumors, the new movie thinks the book is about sex, scandal and perversion.

With due respect to Waugh, “Brideshead” is about none of these things. Its popularity is based on the stately homes of England, aristocracy and snobbery, eccentricity, gentlemanliness, pageantry, the beauty of Oxford, and country gardens. In sum, all those things that make people — especially those who have never been there — love England.

Of course, it’s also about toffs and elegant clothes, Jazz Age glamor, smoking, cocktails and laughter, speech pathologies, and mal de mer. It is, in the word that Tom Wolfe coined expressly to describe “Brideshead,” plutography: the admiring description of the rich and famous, the 20th century’s version of the Regency’s Silver Fork novel.

Look for further “Brideshead” coverage in the coming weeks, including an advance review. In the meantime:

The official site

The scandal behind Brideshead

Everything you’ve always wanted to know about Brideshead

Photo via the Daily Mail.