Originally posted by Barbirollians
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Wolf Hall BBC2
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VodkaDilc
Originally posted by Flosshilde View PostLong gone are the days of the 26 part adaptation of The Forsyte Saga, or the 15 episodes of The Jewel in the Crown, or 11 episodes of Brideshead Revisited
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Originally posted by aka Calum Da Jazbo View Postwell the slow enigmatic silence worked for both Guiness and Oldman playing George Smiley and Rylance has it to a tee ....chess games start slowly usually as momentum and attack await the building of positions ...
for me it needs to neither be faithful to presumed historical fact nor Hilary Mantel's novels; i take it as a work in its own right just as with Tinker Tailor and Smiley's People ....
i find the concept, manifestations, and diagnosis of motive deeply problematic in any case ... and am grateful for the lack of any interlocution .... repeated watching is the only way to make something of it in such terms ...
it is a supreme delight for me
Televisually - "Hints and guesses, hints followed by guesses..." on screen and off.
It not only bears repeated viewings but yields many pleasures thereby... I feel the screenwriter really knows what he's doing here - that the narrative noose will tighten quickly as the end draws close...
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Originally posted by Radio64 View PostSorry 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.
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Thoroughly enjoying this for all the reasons stated already. I've not read the books but the iconoclastic swapping of hero's and villains is refreshing. Rylance is superb and brings an unexpected warmth and humour to the character for all his circumspection. Pryce reinvents the character of Wolsey, kicking Orson Welle's bloated portrayal into touch. I especially like Anton Lesser's More as a querulous, waspish and a hugely dangerous intellectual - certainly at odds with Peter Ackroyd's biography of the subject, but this is an adaptation of a work of fiction after all. Must read the books. Interesting the number of commoners who rose to high office in Henry's reign, I guess he needed the services of lawyers more than most monarchs hitherto.
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Originally posted by Belgrove View PostInteresting the number of commoners who rose to high office in Henry's reign, I guess he needed the services of lawyers more than most monarchs hitherto.Last edited by Historian; 01-02-15, 14:55.
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I feel very much like Calum and others, I found this spellbinding. To me it was the very opposite of ponderous. I have just watched both episodes on the iPlayer and the hour of each one flew by, I'd have been quite happy if they'd each been two hours.
I felt Mark Rylance's (and other's) tacit way fleshed out and enhanced the psychological intensity of the drama, much in the same way a Schubert piano accompaniment does its song's text (it's wordless nature allowing far greater depth of understanding of events) and look forward to the next episode with great anticipation. I haven't read the books.
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I'm in the, um (bites lips) - I don't think I shall bother with the next episode: the big question for me was solved by looking up-thread: Bernard Hill. It was very good looking - I'm always fascinated how they manage to get physiognomies looking as unlikely as contemporary portraits. And very good performances but - the story, the story ...
That said, I really don't like historical fiction and wouldn't touch the novels with a bargepole. So it was always going to be hard to sell it to me.It isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world.
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Originally posted by french frank View PostThat said, I really don't like historical fiction and wouldn't touch the novels with a bargepole. So it was always going to be hard to sell it to me.
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Richard Tarleton
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Originally posted by mercia View Posthow much documentary evidence has been available to Hilary Mantel to paint her personal portrait of this period, or in other words, how much has she guessed ?
I'm not convinced that the psychology of the historical characters is known at all - the records of the time weren't objective enough.It isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world.
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