British
“War” Miniseries
by
Kristin Battestella
These
relatively recent but limited edition British originals, revivals,
and adaptations provide succinct yet no less heavy contemporary gang
wars, World War II legacies, and interwar turmoils.
Archangel
– Professor 007 Daniel Craig is tracing lost Stalin
documents in this three part 2005 adaptation opening with 1953
deathbeds, period patinas, and choice reds before modern day Moscow
presentations and protests. The culture contrasts are immediately
apparent with western intellectual hobnobbing, conversations in both
English and Russian, and elder comrades living in the past with their
communist nostalgia while the young don't need lectures on their own
history. The past, however, feels very present with card catalogs,
records, big computers, and buried tool boxes that may hold million
dollar evidence – sending our scholar digging where perhaps he
shouldn't. This looks its age yet seems older, fittingly behind the
times of a society at a crossroads. Increasing snow, desolate
highways, and hidden tunnels add to the pursuits on the street,
tailing cars, mobs at the payphone, tangles with the police, and
bodies in the bathtub. Shadowy KGB remnants and FSB intelligence join
the pesky reporter and cutthroat academics while the sad, regular
folks ruined by the old regime just want the past to stay dead as
outsiders throw the monsters back at them for a scoop. Touches of
humor and charm alleviate the official Soviet seals, more behind
closed doors flashbacks, and titular travels amid talk of radiation
check ins and nuclear leaks as the race leads to a brisk wilderness
and secret forest compounds. Of course, no one really bundles up for
the weather and brief scenes away from Craig are less interesting,
for his academia comes in handy at dusty libraries and his preachy
British point of view creates relevant sociopolitical debates as he
himself changes from seeking glory to protecting information. Was the
past pride better than the so called free market organized crime and
rich oligarchy today? Is this an elaborate set up with hopes of a
return to Soviet form? Stubborn old believers still send in their
party donations – leading to messianic pride, urban chases, and
snowy shootouts. A desperate people will believe what they want to
hear, but tender moments, animal traps, and cold river escapes from
the embodiment of the old regime keep the plot personal amid an
international what if. While there are too many comings and goings
up and down staircases, there's also a Hitchcockian thriller tone
with trains, a happenstance everyman. And a tough dame caught up in
all the intrigue. However, the ending here is unfortunately very
rushed – the building of the case is longer than the resolution and
the abrupt finale doesn't resolve what happens next either personally
or globally. Fortunately, the shocking conclusion sparks plenty of
debate, and this is an interesting series to revisit amid our current
political climate.
The Fear
– Although the older smartphones and technology uses are a little
dated, vendetta damaged hotels covered in ghostly construction
plastic and burned out art galleries match The Who ringtones as
illness sours patriarch Peter Mullan's (Top of the Lake) criminal
enterprise in this 2012 quartet. The seaside rides, Brighton Pier
restoration plans, and windswept surf should be fun, but the bleak
nighttime waves, empty boardwalks, and gang controlled clubs create a
shady mood. Sons, drug deals, foreign hookers, drinking, and
blackouts interfere with the lavish, almost respectable lifestyle,
and unexplained injuries lead to burning bodies on the beach and
wondering what the rotary club would think if they knew. This is
Richie's town – such a proud man, strong father, and tough crime
lord cannot show weakness. Unfortunately, new enemies won't wait on
big business mergers, and one reckless son ditching family for the
perks of European connections escalates to gory payback. When pitiful
slip ups force the old man to tell the cops he doesn't know or has no
memory of an assault, he's not lying and truly can't recall. He
hesitates with cover up responses, talking himself up and reminding
his sons he doesn't answer to them. A brief narration sounds meta
crazy – waxing on dementia versus normality, knowing you're losing
it yet not admitting it. Distorted bookends and visual disconnects
reflect the couple on opposite sides of the upscale foyer with up
close camera frames and out of focus tracking shots. Former friends
now doctors make for disagreeable trips down memory lane, but the
gang competition is going poorly and so is golfing with the mayor.
The local authorities aren't exactly thrilled with this turf war!
Sensible son Harry Lloyd (Game
of Thrones)
tries to clean up the mess and act as the go between for his strained
parents, realizing his dad has had his day. Sadly, he can't talk his
way out of this battle and pays dearly, letting the trauma fester
without saying anything. I can't stop thinking about that nasty
humiliation scene, and though he pops up in a lot of smaller roles,
Lloyd really should be a leading man more. Anastasia Hille (The
Missing)
is also impressive in the difficult position as Richie's wife, the
only person who can help her ill husband but has been through too
much already. Who isn't handling the bads or doesn't have a mental
problem denials create helpless moments of compassion. How can one
make real estate negotiations when he can't remember what's past or
present? Memories and reality blur together as guilt contributes to
the mental deterioration. Losing one's grip on reality is bad enough
without an idiot son thinking he can rent guns and return them after
the crime's done, and oi, don't put the severed head on the counter
top it goes in the freezer next to the bag of peas! Pieces of
agreements are being done without others, but you can't deal with
drug lords when you have a doctor's appointment. Who's going to roll
over into this deeper and deeper hole next? Shootouts spiral out of
control, and police are afoot thanks to uncovered graves and get out
of Dodge warnings. Rival fathers and sons each pay for their sins in
an unspoken religious vein and abstract what ifs. Who's incompetent
fault is this and if Richie wasn't ill would he be able to assure his
legacy? Some may find the crook's downfall themes tame, but this
performance driven rather than shock of the week parable isn't meant
for the in your face action eighteen to thirty-four audience. If
you're expecting wham bam you won't find it in this mature
reflection. This is uncomfortable to watch and not for everyone
because it is so realistically depressing. There may not be a lot of
repeat value as the story is at times thin, and nasty though they
are, the Eastern European villains are nondescript thugs with slurs
to match. Despite several nominations, this deserved more awards and
audience recognition – how did this take five years to garner
stateside streaming? Fortunately, Mullan is delightful as this gruff
but bittersweet crime lord losing his mind, and the superb family
drama peaks with a lovely finale.
A
Tough Call
Upstairs Downstairs
– This 2010 revival created
by Heidi Thomas (Call
the Midwife)
starts promisingly as a new family at 165 Eaton Place brushes
shoulders with royalty and fascism in its First three part series.
Our house goes from shuttered and abandoned to colorful and hiring
new staff with Jean Marsh as returning housekeeper Rose Buck.
Initially time moves fast, with mirror glances of a growing pregnancy
indicating months passed and announcements on the death of one king
and the abdication of another perfectly encapsulating everything in
between. Empirical wrongs, loyal secretaries, and upper class
eccentricities are acknowledged alongside budding Nazism, local
protests, a fleeing Jewish maid, and a mute orphan – scandals the
warmhearted and charming but slightly inefficient household can't
always handle but braves nonetheless. Who’s in charge anyway? Is it
wife Keeley Hawes (MI-5),
her diplomat husband Ed Stoppard (Home
Fires),
or his dowager mother Dame Eileen Atkins (Cranford)?
Above
and below both gather around the radio or trim the Christmas tree
together, aiding in problems big or small. So what if it's sir and
madam or mister and miss; the biggest secret one can reveal is
sharing one's given Christian name! Audiences don't need to know the
Original seventies series inside out to marathon this Initial leg.
However, the six hour 2012 Second season handles cast departures
while introducing rogue aunt Alex Kingston (Doctor
Who) amid
1938
broadcasts, gas masks, air raid drills, and sandbags on the door
step. The bleak preparations recall the hefty prices already paid in
The Great War, with opinions past and present dividing the house top
to bottom. Characters below grow and change, doing their part in the
face of war with well done period lesbian affairs and scandalous
novels upstairs. Diplomacy both foreign and domestic is failing as
famous jazz, flavorful nightclubs, servant balls, picture shows, and
glamorous frocks have their last hurrah. We’ve had conflicts and
live in hotbed times, but today's generation perhaps can't fully
comprehend how those reluctantly bracing for II were not so far
removed from I. Sadly, unnecessary abortion subplots and young JFK
mingling hamper the intriguing high and low family versus employer
loyalty. Duke of Kent Blake Ritson (Da
Vinci's Demons)
and Stoppard's Hallam
look and behave too Talented
Mr. Ripley latent,
and the palace hobnobbing
wastes time as the upheavals progress toward war. Superfluous bad
sister Claire Foy's (The
Crown)
torrid is especially uneven amid more important conscription and war
training, and the series is best when focusing on rescuing Jewish
children, visa technicalities, and whether Britain will isolate
itself from the refugees and turmoil in Europe – topics
unfortunately relevant again. Who has time to worry about what
society thinks of lame affairs and forced marital rifts in times like
this? Classism snobbery runs the increasingly undermined leads into
the ground, as our man of the house diplomat is so stiff upper lip
worried about their reputation – yet its his ineffectual politics
and can't keep it together at home embarrassing his address most.
He's going to have to man up and answer his own door, O.M.G!
Year Two should have been another three episode war imminent arc, for
the soap opera shoehorning backs the quality drama into a contrived
corner with nowhere
left to go.
Pity.
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