Wolf Hall BBC2

[eighthobstruction]

Hilary Mantell herself has an interesting rhythm/cadence/tone/ confidence to her speaking voice....she seems very pleased to be interviewed....pleased to be engaged....

[Ferretfancy]

I have been given both books, and enjoyed Wolf Hall, but I've never got beyond the first couple of chapters of Bring Up the Bodies. Generally speaking I don't like books written in what I think is called the historical present ..." Josephine crosses the room and opens the curtains" -that sort of thing, so I had to persevere.

Things are beginning to pile up on my hard disc, what with the whole second series of The Fall, Broadchurch, and the wonderful Spiral. Next up are the two concurrent Russell Davies series, Cucumber and Banana, not to mention catch ups on University Challenge and Great Railway Journeys. Something will have to go !

[Nick Armstrong]

Something will have to go !

Broadchurch!

Don't miss The Fall or Spiral...

Re Wolf Hall - saving it for a watch at the weekend. I have but haven't read the books, to my shame.

[jayne lee wilson]

I know I'll never read the novels, but as someone whose default setting is usually I don't do costume drama...
I thought the first episode was - fantastic television. Agree with everything Cal says...

Understated but compelling screen presence from Rylance, lovely softgrained, shadowy images; directing and scripting never drawing attention to themselves - all added up to a very deft, subtle and atmospheric visual and dramatic experience...

[jean]

Generally speaking I don't like books written in what I think is called the historical present ...

I imagine you don't care much for Caesar, then!

[Flosshilde]

I read the second book first & found that rather mannered & rather irritating.

I should have made it clear that it was the construction 'he, Cromwell' that I found irritating. I thought that both books were compulsive reading.

[mangerton]

I've just watched episode 1, and found it compelling viewing. Much has been said about the darkness; I didn't find that a problem. I enjoyed Pryce's Wolsey, a great change from the portrayal in "A Man for all Seasons".

I second Cali's comments on Spiral and The Fall. I have recorded episode 2 of Broadchurch, and I will watch it, but I'm not in a great hurry to do so.

(Ff - that must be some size of a hard disc. My Virgin box holds 80 hours, but that reduces to 20 hours of HD - not a great deal with all this good stuff on TV.)

[jean]

I should have made it clear that it was the construction 'he, Cromwell' that I found irritating.

I thought that was what you meant.

I found it a bit intrusive, but I knew why she'd done it, and I thought it did make it easier not to get lost.

[bb]

BFI Player - How we adapted Wolf Hall (Q&A) 2015

[eighthobstruction]

EEEEeeee they don't miss a trick - do they....<wine and cheese anyone?>

[Stunsworth]

Superb. Loved every minute. To my shame I've had Wolf Hall on my Kindle for ages, but haven't got round to reading it - it was an Amazon 99p special a while ago.

I was was surprised that the sound was in stereo not surround, but that didn't detract from the excellent visuals.

[Flosshilde]

Just watched the first episode - brilliant! Although Hilary Mantel has given it her approval, I do think it's best to see it as something seperate from her books, or at most an 'interpretation', rather than a faithful transfer.

[Radio64]

Sorry to say I fell asleep half way through Ep. 1. As a part-time history buff (aren't we all?) I really did want to like this, maybe I tried too hard. I'm enjoying reading everyone's comments anyway.

[DracoM]

It's SO, SO slow, compared with the intense pace of the internalisations in the books. Endless walking about shots,[ and I if we have yet another lighting candles sequence!] the camera lingerers on Rylance's face, his extended silences such that they and he becomes an empty caricature. In the books, the ceaseless MENTAL activity is written up. The TV thing is castrating the book of its conflicts, schemes, political big pictures, but above all robbing it of propulsive PACE. Cast is briliant, but, oh dear, the rest of it......

Supremely disappointed here, I fear.

[aeolium]

It's SO, SO slow, compared with the intense pace of the internalisations in the books. Endless walking about shots,[ and I if we have yet another lighting candles sequence!] the camera lingerers on Rylance's face, his extended silences such that they and he becomes an empty caricature. In the books, the ceaseless MENTAL activity is written up. The TV thing is castrating the book of its conflicts, schemes, political big pictures, but above all robbing it of propulsive PACE. Cast is briliant, but, oh dear, the rest of it......

Yes, this points to a serious difficulty inherent in dramatising for the screen books which depend a great deal on the descriptions of the internal thoughts of its characters. I am not averse to long-drawn out dramatisations, being an admirer of Bondarchuk's adaptation of War and Peace, but each scene has to advance the viewer's understanding in some way, whether of character or of plot. I'm not convinced that this adaptation does that.

I have to confess though that I have not read the book, since I dislike the historical novel as a genre. It seems to me to face an insoluble dilemma: whether to incorporate the vigour of the language and ideas of the author's own time, and be anachronistic, or to seek historical verisimilitude and suffer a fatal dryness and archaism.